Settlement Delayed in Death of Baby Boy

A financial settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit brought by a couple whose baby died of a severe birth defect five days after he was born at a Los Angeles County hospital in Sylmar has been delayed at least until September, their attorney said Monday.

Aileen Norvell Goldstein said a settlement conference Monday failed to produce an agreement and the first date when all participants will be available is not until Sept. 16. The conference was scheduled after attorneys for the county agreed that DNA tests showed the child who died was the baby Patricia Chavez gave birth to at Olive View Medical Center in January, 1990.

Chavez has maintained that the infant’s death was caused by the failure of the county’s medical staff to notice the birth defect. Initially, the county’s attorneys contended that Chavez took home a healthy baby and that another child was the one who died.