Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1982 [PAGE 121]

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110

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[November 20

EXECUTIVE SESSION

An executive session was requested and ordered for consideration of pending litigation.

Settlement of Litigation

(1) On September 18, 1980, the Board of Trustees authorized settlement of certain litigation initiated by the widow of Albert Broussard, deceased, against the University in the Court of Claims and against Drs. Oscar Sugar, Cesar Rojas, and Antonio Zelaya, who are physicians on the University staff, in the Circuit Court of Cook County. T h e litigation alleges that the death of Albert Broussard resulted from negligence or improper conduct during the course of a cerebral angiogram when isopropyl alcohol was injected into his brain rather than a dye known as Isopaque. The action of the board authorized settlement in an amount not to exceed $55,000. The plaintiffs attorney claims that there was a misunderstanding concerning his client's willingness to settle the case for $55,000 and has demanded that the settlement be in the amount of $60,000, together with a cancellation of the hospital charges relating to the decedent. The executive vice president and the university counsel have recommended that the previous settlement authorization by the board be amended so that settlement of the litigation be authorized for a total payment not in excess of $60,000 and that the University's hospital charges for the decedent be cancelled. I concur.

On motion of Dr. Donoghue, this recommendation was approved by the following vote: Aye, Dr. Donoghue, Mr. Forsyth, Mr. Hahn, Mr. Howard, Mr. Lenz, Mr. Neal, Mrs. Shepherd, Mr. Stone, Mr. Velasquez; no, none; absent, Governor Thompson. (The student advisory vote was: Aye, Mr. Maltese, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Silverman; no, none.)

Litigation Initiated by Alice Martin, a Minor

(2) In 1979 a suit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (Case No. 79 L 342) on behalf of Alice Martin, a minor, seeking damages for alleged malpractice in connection with her birth at the University of Illinois Hospital in February 1974. Five physicians on the University's staff (Drs. Charles M. Reed, Nelson Lehrer, Martin O'Sullivan, Jerzy J. Biezenski, and William G. Turner) were named as defendants. Under the terms of the University's policy with Continental Insurance Company, the insurer has provided the defense of the action. The University has now been named as an additional defendant and the Continental Insurance Company has been requested to provide the defense and indemnity insofar as the University is concerned. At this time the insurer has not responded to the University's request. T h e amended complaint asserts that the provisions of the Illinois Court of Claims Act, which confers exclusive jurisdiction on the Court of Claims for suits in tort against the University, is unconstitutional. Under the Court of Claims Act, recovery against the University is limited to $100,000. T h e insurance coverage available for this incident is $500,000. We are advised by the attorneys employed by the insurer that the verdict potential may be considerably in excess of the coverage. It is possible that in the event a judgment is entered in excess of the policy limits, the five physicians or their representatives (Dr. O'Sullivan has died since the initiation of the suit) will demand indemnification from the University for such excess.