5-Time Mom Sues Doc Over Alleged Labor From Hell
Catherine Skol had already had four other children. But delivering the fifth was the most painful experience she has ever had, she contends–and she’s hired a high-profile Illinois personal injury lawyer to prove it.
In a lawsuit filed by attorney Kathleen Zellner this week against the fill-in doctor who handled her delivery, Scott Pierce, Skol claims that he began treating her badly as soon as he arrived, four hours after she did, at Rush University Medical Center. Among other allegations, she contends that he gave her a painful vaginal exam in the middle of a contraction, told a nurse she deserved to feel pain because she hadn’t called before coming into the hospital at about 4 a.m., and told Skol to “Shut up, close your mouth and push” as she and others questioned his approach, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Even after Skol delivered, her ordeal at Pierce’s hands wasn’t over, the lawsuit contends: “After the birth, Pierce gave Skol needless stiches for tiny tears, using a needle that was unnecessarily large,” the newspaper recounts.
A spokesperson for the hospital says that Pierce was reprimanded for his treatment of Skol, but notes that he is in private practice and doesn’t work for Rush although he has privileges there. Pierce apparently couldn’t be reached by the Tribune for comment on the Cook County Circuit Court lawsuit.
