Status conference continued to July in cerebral palsy suit

A status conference in a suit brought by the mother of a girl diagnosed with cerebral palsy following her January 2005 birth has been pushed back.

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Lloyd Cueto pushed back the May 2 conference to July 18 at 9 a.m. in a suit brought against Dr. William Keenan and St. Louis University by Linda and Haley Overmeyer.

The Overmeyers allege that Keenan's negligence at Haley Overmeyer's birth led her to develop cerebral palsy.

The plaintiffs claim that Keenan, an employee of St. Louis University, faild to properly treat Haley Overmeyer, failed to intubate and otherwise caused the injuries she suffered.

The suit seeks damages in excess of $50,000 per each of its six counts.

Protestant Memorial Medical Center Inc. had been named as a defendant in the suit. It dropped out of the case in January 2009.

Keenan and the university deny the suit's claims.

The action marks the first move in the case since the plaintiffs changed attorneys in March.
Previously, Brad Bradshaw, Eric Belk and Joe Hillebrand represented the Overmeyers.

They bowed out of the case and Joseph Bartholomew took over as plaintiffs' counsel.

The suit saw little action in 2010 as status conferences were pushed off through much of the year.

Michael Drake and Edward Bott represent Keenan and the university.

The case is St. Clair case number 08-L-668.