Injury Compensation News

A fourteen year old boy, who was starved of oxygen during his birth and now suffers from cerebral palsy, has had a compensation settlement of 3.5 million Euros approved in the High Court.
Cian Mangan, from Faranree, County Cork, was born late into the evening of the 1st of June 1996. He was already several days overdue when his mother, Michelle, was admitted to St. Finbarr’s Hospital, County Cork, in the early stages of labour.
Mr Justice Brian McGovern at the High Court heard that Cian’s foetal heartbeat had fallen between the time Michelle was admitted to the hospital and when he was born, and it was alleged that staff at the hospital had failed to recognise this symptom of foetal distress.
Their alleged oversight led to a delay in summoning a doctor and consequently, when Cian was delivered at 11.39pm, he had become asphyxiated, and now suffers from cerebral palsy as a result.
Claiming medical negligence through his mother, the court heard that the Health Service Executive (HSE) denied liability for Cian’s injuries and argued that the proper procedures were followed. However, the HSE had made an offer of 3.5 million Euros cerebral palsy compensation which Cian and his family were prepared to accept.
Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Brian McGovern agreed that a payment of 140,000 Euros should be paid to Cian’s mother for the care she had provided for him over the past fourteen years, and heard that an application was going to be made to make Cian a ward of court.

The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, has approved one of Ireland’s first ever structured personal injury compensation payment  Iarnród Éireann  for a security guard severely injured by collapsing steel gate. The victim suffered frontal lobe damage that changed his personality, reduced his mental capacity, and made him less aware of his surroundings.

As well as €250,000 in general damages and special damages, Iarnród Éireann has agreed to make regular index-linked payments to the injured man, including €160,000 in annual care costs in a unit operated by Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, and €1,200 montly until retirement age for loss of earnings.

The settlement agreement is an interim agreement pending expected legislation on structured compensation payments, with the case adjourned until October 2011. This new type of settlement is aimed at solving the problems associated with serious injury victims where life-expectancy and future care costs were unclear.

Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns described the settlement as “imaginative, forward-looking and eminently sensible”.

It should be noted that this type of structured personal injury compensation payment will be relatively rare – only applying in cases where future long term care costs for serious injuries are unknown.  The vast majority of personal injury claims will continued to be settled in the conventional manner involving negotiations between a solicitor and an insurance company.

Acquired Brain Injury Ireland has launched a campaign, to coincide with National Bike Week, to encourage cyclist to wear helmets. Cyclist are particularly vulnerable to head injuries during road traffic accidents and bicycle accident claims tend to be higher than average due to the severity of the injuries.  Acquired Brain Injury Ireland estimates that there are about 10,000 brain injuries each year in Ireland. Wearing a helmet reduces by up to 88% the risk of suffering a serious head trauma and possible lifelong disability during a bicycle accident.

National Bike Week in Ireland runs from June 13th until June 20th with hundreds of events nationwide.