Law firm secures £20m for brain-injured boy, 10
SETTLEMENT THOUGHT TO BE ONE OF TOP FIVE HIGHEST AWARDS
A MULTI-million pound settlement for a brain-injured child has been achieved by a Manchester law firm.
Early this week the High Court approved a £23m compensation settlement for a 10-year-old boy who suffered brain damage at birth as a result of medical negligence, one of only a handful of personal injury settlements awarded over £20m.
Ben Gent, head of clinical negligence at Manchester-based personal injury law firm, Express Solicitors, acted on the case.
The settlement is thought to be in the top five highest awards ever reported in an injury claim.
The child, whose identity is protected under an anonymity order, developed cerebral palsy after hospital staff missed signs of distress during his mother’s labour in 2008.
Investigations revealed that neither the consultant obstetrician nor the midwife at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London, were paying attention to the CTG trace, which recorded the pattern of his heartbeat. As the trace deteriorated there was a delay in the delivery, which meant the child was deprived of oxygen for the 15 minutes before he was born.
Injuries include significant behavioural problems, special educational needs and impaired movement patterns.
He is incontinent at night, has difficulties with communication and poor social awareness and will need support throughout his life.
In November, lawyers at Express Solicitors agreed a compensation package consisting of a lump sum payment of £5.3m to help buy and adapt safe, accessible accommodation, compensate him for the fact he will never have a job, and pay for his therapy costs.
In addition, he will receive index linked annual payments of up to £200,000 to pay for a team of carers for the rest of his life.
Solicitor Ben Gent said: “The financial and emotional consequences of this negligent obstetric care are immense and will endure for decades into the future, and this money will ensure AC is taken care of properly in years to come.
“Patient care can only improve when mistakes are acknowledged and investigated openly and independently. The political trend to see access to justice as an expensive luxury undermines patient safety and makes this kind of tragedy more likely to happen again.”