£3 million settlement for young adult with cerebral palsy caused by hypoxic birth injury

Our cerebral palsy lawyers have secured a £3 million settlement for a young man who was brain-injured at birth, despite the injury happening over 20 years ago.

Our client approached us as a young adult, asking us to investigate the cause of his bilateral, asymmetric, spastic cerebral palsy. We applied for his mother’s medical records and discovered that about three hours into his mother’s labour the CTG fetal heart monitor had begun to show abnormalities - a rising baseline (tachycardia), decelerations initially in response to the mother’s contractions but then gradually dropping further and taking longer to recover, and reduced beat-to-beat variability - all signs of fetal distress which should have alerted the midwives to call an obstetrician. If a doctor had been called at that time, they would have requested fetal blood samples which would have confirmed that the baby was being deprived of oxygen. This would have led to an expedited delivery by forceps or caesarean section, which would have avoided injury to the baby.

Instead, our client’s mother was given increasing doses of the uterine stimulant, syntocinon, which caused additional stress to the already compromised baby. By the time the baby was delivered his brain had been permanently damaged from an acute period of hypoxia (lack of oxygen) in the final 10 to 15 minutes leading up to his birth.  He was resuscitated and transferred to the SCBU. Blood tests confirmed that he was acidotic, having suffered an acute, near total hypoxic ischaemic injury which has left him permanently physically disabled.

We served our client’s claim on the defendant hospital which admitted liability and accepted that our client’s injury had been caused by negligent delays in his delivery. Judgment was entered on liability. We obtained interim payments of £100,000 to alleviate the financial hardship that has been caused by his disability whilst we worked with our experts to value the claim. After a full investigation of our clients needs, now and in the future, the claim settled for £3 million.

Our client is physically disabled by his cerebral palsy but has preserved cognitive function and is able to work part time. He does not need a Court of Protection deputy but his compensation award is protected and managed through a personal injury trust, providing him with security for the future, access to the support that he needs to continue working and enabling him to retain his entitlement to benefits.

If you are caring for a child or young adult with cerebral palsy or other neurological disability caused by medical negligence and would like to discuss a claim, contact us at cerebralpalsy@boyesturner.com.