 The defense contended that Dr. Prego had drawn the infected blood herself and had caused the accident on her own.In March 1990, just before summations to the jury would have been held, she suddenly dropped her lawsuit, settling out-of-court without a public acknowledgement of negligence from the defendants and for what was initially an undisclosed sum of money.The judge later disclosed that $1.35 million was awarded to Prego in the settlement.