Swedish Covenant to pay in meningitis settlement

SETTLEMENT | Woman claimed meningitis not diagnosed in ER
June 6, 2008

BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter - spatterson@suntimes.com

As a nurse, Rosemary Mittenthal knew enough about her sudden, severe joint pain, headaches and neck stiffness to tell something was wrong.

But twice, emergency room staffers at Swedish Covenant Hospital sent her home, assuring her it was nothing serious, she said.

The 68-year-old Chicago woman had meningitis that was left undiagnosed for three days. She now suffers from "severe mental and physical disabilities," her attorney, Mark McNabola, said.

On Wednesday, Swedish Covenant agreed to pay her $7.8 million to settle her negligence lawsuit. The hospital attorney did not return a call.

Also Wednesday, McNabola settled an unrelated medical negligence case for $2.6 million, brought against St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields, its emergency room physician, Dr. Young-Il Ro, and a Homewood chiropractor, Diane Barton.

Marilyn Senzell, 59, of South Holland, claims she suffered a torn carotid artery during a 2001 session with Barton and that injury went undetected and untreated by Ro. A week later, she suffered a stroke, which left her disabled.

Barton's attorney, Randall Monroe, said they will pay $500,000 toward the settlement. Attorneys for Ro and St. James didn't return calls.