A lawyer for poor, pregnant women who say t= hey were not informed of risks a drug study posed to their pregnancies ha= s reached a monetary agreement with a hospital and university, court reco= rds show.

Attorneys for the women, Tampa General Hospital and the U= niversity of South Florida all declined comment on the financial terms, s= aying non-monetary terms still need to be worked out.

The monetary = settlement would help resolve a federal suit filed in January 1990 when S= teve Hanlon, a public interest lawyer for Holland & Knight sued on be= half of 279 women. The case, which was certified as a class action in 199= 6, had been scheduled for trial in April.

The women were part of a = study combining two drugs that had been used separately to reduce chances= of respiratory problems in premature infants. In the study, the women un= derwent amniocentesis, a test that causes spontaneous abortion in one out= of 100 cases.

Hanlon maintained the consent forms were misleading = and not as clear as forms given to paying clients.

He said the wome= n were done "dignitary harm." He does not identify a woman, fetus or newb= orn who suffered medical harm.

According to the lawsuit, Flora Diaz= , 18 in 1987 when she entered Tampa General Hospital with a high-risk pre= gnancy, was drowsy from drugs and told by a nurse amniocentesis was neces= sary to check the baby's lungs.

Diaz's mother was asked to sign a c= onsent form. She was told the amniocentesis would not hurt the baby and i= f the test was not done the baby would be born early and die, the suit st= ates.

The amniocentesis was done. Diaz's daughter Erica was deliver= ed in November 1987 and has grown normally.

Hanlon filed a notice o= f financial settlement last month, but declined Monday to discuss specifi= cs or the issues that remain undecided.

"I believe it is stupid, fr= ankly, to discuss the terms of settlement in the middle of the settlement= process," Hanlon said.