Eight figure settlement in catastrophic birth injury claim
Claire Horton settled the medical negligence claim for Rachel, who suffered a hypoxic neurological injury due to delays and mismanagement during her birth.
Rachel* has significant cognitive difficulties, anxiety, and social reasoning impairment. Rachel suffers from memory and attentional problems, as well as psychological issues that have led to long-term debilitating social isolation.
The hospital Trust admitted that the delays during Rachel's birth were due to negligence and that this caused the neurological damage. After the admission, Claire secured interim payments that provided for specialist care coordinated by a case management team.
A neuropsychological expert assessed Rachel at age 18 and found that Rachel lacks capacity to manage legal and financial affairs, and a Deputy was appointed. Rachel had issues with motor abilities from a young age, but these improved considerably, particularly in the last few years, with support from therapists organised by her case management team. Rachel's mental health however has declined.
The case settled at RTM, and Claire secured an eight-figure sum on behalf of Rachel. The funds allow for a Deputy for life and 24-hour care support with some flexibility. It will also provide for considerable psychiatric and psychological support for the rest of Rachel's life.
This was a complex case that highlighted the need for experts to be more adept at recognising that hypoxic brain injury sequelae may present similarly to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms, though from a different cause. The Defendant's expert claimed that the use of SSRIs by Rachel's mother during pregnancy meant that Rachel would have had ASD regardless of the birth injury. The expert ignored four educational psychologists who examined Rachel as a child and whose findings did not support this.
*name changed
Contact us
For further information about birth injury claims and medical negligence claims, please call Claire Horton on 0330 460 6748 or email Claire.Horton@fieldfisher.com.
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