CROWN POINT | Eighteen-month-old Christopher Bartzis' last words were "Uh oh, Mommy," said his father, Chris Bartzis.
When the beaming little boy died of meningitis April 17, 2002, his Hammond family shattered.
"He was the best baby I've ever seen in my life, and not just because he was mine," said Bartzis, now of Whiting. "He was the light in our home and in our family."
Chris and Karen Bartzis accepted a $1.25 million settlement last month from the Indiana Patient's Compensation Fund and Munster-based pediatrician Azra Sheriff in connection with their son's death. The now-divorced couple sued Sheriff in Lake County Superior Court after a medical malpractice panel found in 2006 that the doctor committed malpractice in caring for the toddler.
It is the second time a panel determined malpractice in Sheriff's care of a patient, the state compensation fund's online database shows.
Only 10 percent of complaints filed with the panel are found to involve malpractice, according to a Times review of data in the Indiana Patient's Compensation Fund 2007 annual report.
Although it found malpractice in the Bartzis' case, the medical panel determined Sheriff's conduct did not harm or cause the death of Christopher.
"Dr. Sheriff gave excellent care in this case," said the doctor's attorney, Sharon Stanzione. "We do not feel she did anything wrong. However, we were very concerned about the sympathy factor to a jury, given the death of a child from meningitis. It was in all the parties' best interests to have the matter resolved."
The Bartzises contend Sheriff caused their son's death by incorrectly diagnosing his meningitis as a stomach problem.
"Dr. Sheriff was not vigilant or in tune with (Christopher's) symptoms," said attorney Kenneth J. Allen, who represented the Bartzises. "She was not doing anything to alleviate them."
Christopher died of an "extremely rare" form of meningitis, Stanzione said.
Sheriff had vaccinated the child against the most common types of meningitis, Stanzione said, adding Sheriff has been a doctor more than 25 years and is board certified in pediatrics and neonatology.
Christopher's first symptoms showed up April 6, 2002, after a birthday party, court records say. The normally cheerful toddler was irritable, throwing up and screaming.
Karen Bartzis tried to take her son to Sheriff but didn't have enough money for the visit, Allen said. Instead, she brought him to an emergency room, where personnel sent him home.
Christopher continued to get worse, so Karen Bartzis brought him to Community Hospital in Munster, where he was put back under Sheriff's care.
He continued to decline. On April 12, 2002, Christopher had a seizure.
The family and Sheriff say they initiated Christopher's transfer to the University of Chicago Hospitals, where he was diagnosed a short time later with meningitis.
An antibiotic treatment and brain surgery failed to cure Christopher, and he died April 17, 2002.
The medical panel determined Sheriff's actions on the last day of Christopher's stay at the Munster hospital amounted to malpractice, claiming the doctor should have done a spinal tap and administered antibiotics earlier.
"It's the most devastating thing that's ever happened to me," Chris Bartzis said. "I've dealt with a lot of death in my life ... but he was so young."
