A central Illinois jury found a pediatric surgeon acted negligently in his treatment of a baby more than a decade ago and awarded the now-teenager more than $2 million, according to the law firm representing the teenager and her family.
A Peoria County jury returned a verdict on Friday and found Dr. Mark Holterman, then a pediatric surgeon at OSF Children’s Hospital in Peoria, was negligent as a surgeon regarding his treatment of the girl in 2011, Romanucci and Blandin said in a statement.
In July 2011, when the girl was 9 months old, Holterman examined her espohagus when she came to the hospital for a choking episode. The surgeon found a piece of carrot inside and a narrowed area called a stricture, which he dialted, according to attorneys’ statement.
The surgeon caused a two-centimeter tear in the infant’s esophagus by doing so, the law firm alleged. He used a leftover adult airway stent to try and cover the tear, but dropped it in her stomach, where the stent remained for 11 months, according to the law firm.
During that time, the infant developed feeding problems and was dependent on a feeding tube inserted through her abdomen into her stomach. Attorneys explained the surgeon used significant pushing pressure with what they said was an outdated device and tore the esophagus.
According to the attorneys, the stent had never been approved for use in a baby’s esophagus, which the girl’s parents weren’t aware of.
“Holterman claimed he was being innovative when he tried to place the adult airway stent in her esophagus,” the lawyers stated. “He said he was trying to make chicken salad out of chicken feathers…”
The girl’s mother testified she felt her daughter was a “guinea pig” when he used the stent without giving full details on whether anyone else was using it in the same way, the news release from the law firm stated.