£19 million settlement for 11 year old with dyskinetic cerebral palsy

Boyes Turner’s birth injury solicitors have secured a settlement of £19 million* for an 11-year-old girl who suffered hypoxic brain damage during a 25-30 minute delay in her delivery.

Delay

Our client’s profound injury arose from the defendant hospital midwifery and obstetric staff’s negligent management of her mother’s labour, during which they failed to recognise that the lack of progress, the mother’s persistently high heart rate (tachycardia) and the abnormalities displayed on the CTG fetal heart monitor mandated an emergency caesarean section. During the period of delay, the baby suffered progressive hypoxic ischaemia leading to a terminal circulatory collapse, leaving her permanently brain damaged with lifelong, severe neurological disability. If correct treatment had been given she would have completely avoided her injury.

The claim 

Our client’s family instructed Boyes Turner’s cerebral palsy specialists to pursue a claim. We obtained supportive expert evidence and served a letter of claim on the defendant, which then admitted liability for our client’s injuries and issued a formal apology. Court proceedings were issued and we obtained a liability judgment in our client’s favour together with an immediate interim payment of £200,000 to meet our client’s urgent needs whilst we assessed the full value of the claim.

Living life to the fullest

With liability secured, we then worked closely with our client’s family and our experts in paediatric neurology, care, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, housing and assistive technology to understand the full past, present and future impact of our client’s cerebral palsy and neurological disability and to establish the cost of meeting her needs.

Our client can walk and has some motor function, but the combination of her physical and cognitive impairments means that she functions at the level of a much younger child. She has impaired language and communication and significant learning difficulties. She needs 24-hour-a-day care and close supervision for all daily activities and personal care. She will never be able to live independently or manage her own affairs. She has a long life expectation but her mobility will decline in adulthood, ultimately leaving her wheelchair dependent.

Following negotiations, Boyes Turner secured a settlement for our client which combines the flexibility of a lump sum payment of £3.9million with index linked, periodical payment orders (PPOs) for care and case management of £64,000pa, rising with our client’s age and consequent additional needs to £148,000pa, and for Court of Protection deputyship of £10,500pa for life.

If you are caring for a child or young adult with cerebral palsy or serious neurological disability caused by medical negligence contact us at cerebralpalsy@boyesturner.com.

*Capitalised equivalent