Result: $10.3 million settlement
Year: 1998
Craft v. Vanderbilt University
Lieff Cabraser served as Lead Counsel of a certified class of over 800 pregnant women and their children who were intentionally fed radioactive iron without their consent while receiving prenatal care at defendant Vanderbilt's hospital in the 1940s.
The facts surrounding the administration of radioactive iron to the pregnant women and their children in utero came to light as a result of Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary's 1993 disclosures of government-sponsored human radiation experimentation during the Cold War.
Defendants' attempts to dismiss the claims and decertify the class were unsuccessful. The case was settled in July 1998 for a total of $10.3 million and a formal apology from Vanderbilt.