Injury Compensation News

A boy who sustained cerebral palsy due to a mismanaged birth has had the settlement of his hospital negligence claim approved by the High Court in Dublin.

Kyle McMahon from Nenagh in County Tipperary was born at the St Munchin’s Regional Maternity Hospital in Limerick the day after his mother – Theresa – had been admitted suffering from raised blood pressure. Labour had been induced to speed up Kyle´s birth, but during his delivery Kyle suffered severe foetal stress and was starved of oxygen. Following his birth, Kyle was diagnosed as suffering from cerebral palsy and now needs round-the-clock care.

In a claim for mismanaged birth injury compensation made through his mother, it was alleged that Kyle´s injury could have been avoided with a better handling of the situation. Neither St Munchin’s Regional Maternity Hospital nor the Health Service Executive disputed the allegations, and a compensation package was agreed in respect of Kyle´s hospital negligence claim.

The High Court in Dublin heard that the case was before them only for approval of the compensation settlement as Kyle is still under eighteen years of age.

A teenage girl, who sustained an Erb´s Palsy injury due to an alleged breach in the duty of care at her birth, has had a birth injury compensation settlement of 850,000 Euros approved in the High Court.

Sarah O´Sullivan (14) of Blarney, County Cork, suffered a shoulder injury during her birth at Cork City General Hospital in 1997 which resulted in her being diagnosed with right-sided Erb´s Palsy as she grew older.

Claiming that the management of her birth was mishandled and that the injury could have been avoided with due diligence, Sarah sued the hospital and consultant obstetrician Dr. Patrick Kieran through her father, Kevin.

Both Cork City General Hospital and Dr. Kieran denied the claims made against them, but the High Court heard that they had agreed to a birth injury compensation settlement of 850,000 Euros without admission of liability.

A seven year old boy, who was born with spastic cerebral palsy due to the negligence of nursing staff prior to his delivery, has had a partial settlement of more than one million Euros approved in the High Court.

Shane Kenny of Ballyduff, County Waterford, sued the Health Service Executive through his mother Catherine, due to alleged negligence in the events leading up to his birth at the Erinville Hospital, County Cork, on November 2nd 2004.

In the birth negligence compensation claim, Mr Justice John Quirke at the High Court heard that there had been a failure to act on the results of a cardiotocogragh trace (CTG) which showed that the boy´s foetal heart rate was abnormal. Due to this oversight, Shane was delivered by forceps, which resulted in a partial hypoxic event.

The court heard that, although Shane is able to attend mainstream education, he is not expected to achieve the required cognitive capacity to sit State exams and will never be capable of independent living.

Liability for Shane´s birth negligence injury was admitted by the Health Service Executive, and an interim settlement of 1,004,000 Euros had been agreed between the parties to cover past costs and expenses, and to provide care and education for Shane for the next two years.

Approving the birth negligence settlement, Mr Justice John Quirke stated that he hoped legislation would be introduced within the next two years to facilitate periodic payments to those who had suffered catastrophic injury. The birth negligence settlement does not account for Shane´s future loss of earnings, which will be agreed in a hearing to be scheduled next year.

A six year old girl, who was born with severe spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, has had an interim settlement of 1.9 million Euros approved in the High Court.

Isabelle Sheehan of Mallow, County Cork, sustained her birth injury due to the acknowledged negligence of Dr David Corr, who was practising privately from Bon Secours Maternity Hospital, Cork, at the time of Isabelle’s birth in November 2004.

Isabelle´s claim was made through her mother Catherine, who claimed that Dr Corr should have referred her to an expert in foetal medicine when complications started during her pregnancy. Dr Corr acknowledged that he had made a mistake and Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill heard at the High Court that an interim settlement of 1.9 million Euros had been agreed between the two parties.

The settlement of 1.3 million Euros is to cover general damages and loss of future earnings for Isabelle, and to pay for the care already provided for the child and future care until October 2013. By October 2013, it is hoped that a system of periodic payments will be introduced for persons with catastrophic injuries. However, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill stated that if the necessary legislation was not enacted by that time, a lump sum payment would have to be provided.

A young woman, who was found to have cerebral palsy shortly after her birth, has had a compensation settlement of 1.4 million Euros approved in the High Court.

Deborah French (24) of Ballymitty, County Wexford, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy shortly after her birth in August 1987 at Wexford General Hospital. Her parents brought a claim for birth injury compensation against consultant obstetrician Harry Murphy and the South Eastern Health Board, alleging that Dr Murphy had been negligent in the hours leading up to and during Deborah´s birth.

The case was settled without admission of liability by the defendants, a course of action supported by Mr Justice John Quirke as he approved the settlement, stating that the conflicting opinions offered by medical experts may have put the family at risk of getting nothing in a trial.

The judge recommended that the funds be released to Deborah´s parents – Ann and John French – in annual increments of 100,000 Euros.

A 23 year old woman, who sustained cerebral palsy due to the alleged mis-management of her birth, has agreed to an out-of-court settlement amounting to 2.5 million Euros.

Laura Tinney of Buncrana, County Donegal, was born on May 31st 1988 at the Letterkenny County Hospital after her mother – Eleanor – had been admitted the week previously, when cardiotocography recordings had shown a deceleration in the foetal heartbeat.

Cardiotocography recordings were discontinued on May 29th and when Laura was born it was discovered that she had suffered from oxygen deprivation, causing permanent brain damage. Laura is now confined to a wheelchair, has little use of her left hand and requires significant care.

In an action brought against the Health Service Executive (HSE) by Laura´s mother, it was alleged that had the cardiotocography recordings been maintained, it would have revealed further abnormalities in the heartbeat which would have prompted immediate delivery.

The HSE denied the claims, but at the High Court in Dublin Mr. Justice John Quirke was advised that the HSE had made an offer of settlement without admission of liability which the family was willing to accept.

Approving the 2.5 million Euros compensation settlement, the judge commented that had the case been allowed to proceed, there was a real chance that Laura would have received no damages – a scenario which the judge said would be “a dreadful outcome”.

The tragic tale of Jade Keane hit the national headlines in February this year, when Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill awarded Jade (10) a settlement package of 7 million Euros for the devastating and permanent injuries of post natal hydrocephalus.
The judge had found that gross medical negligence by the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Holles Street National Maternity Hospital and Jade´s GP – Dr Dermot Stones of Ballybrack, County Dublin – had led to her developing water on the brain in the weeks and months after her birth.
An immediate payment of 4.75 million Euros was to be paid as an interim settlement by the HSE and the hospital – both of whom admitted that mistakes had been made, but denied that they amounted to actionable negligence – and, before Mr Justice Seán Ryan at the High Court, they sought indemnity or contribution from Dr Stones in relation to the damages.
After reviewing the case, the judge ruled that there was nothing to distinguish the blameworthiness of all three defendants – stating that they were equally “grossly inept” – and ruled that each should pay one third of the damages awarded by Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill in February.

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 family of a woman who died from internal bleeding, shortly after giving birth at the National Maternity Hospital, has been awarded almost 2.5 million Euros in a High Court settlement.
Taz Kenefick (36), a dentist from Bray in County Wicklow, had been admitted to the Holles Street National Maternity Hospital in Dublin to give birth to her second son in November 2004.
The birth was complicated as Mrs Kenefick developed an infection during her labour and had a condition in which the placenta was very deeply attached to her womb.
Following the birth of her son, Mrs Kenefick bled very heavily and, despite the attention of her obstetric consultant, died on the operating table.
Her husband, Kevin, sued the consultant and the hospital for clinical neglect, and Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill at the High Court heard that the hospital admitted liability just two weeks ago.
Awarding almost 2.5 million Euros to Mr Kenefick and his two children, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neil announced that the action against the consultant was no longer going to be pursued.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has issued a formal apology following the publication of the National Miscarriage Misdiagnosis Review.
The inquiry into miscarriage misdiagnosis was launched in June 2010, after Melissa Redmond from Dublin announced that she had given birth to a son, even though she was told that she had miscarried the foetus.
The report, which focused on twenty four cases that were misdiagnosed in June of 2010, revealed that twenty two of the women went on to give birth after having been told that they had miscarried, while the remaining two only miscarried after undergoing medical procedures to remove the foetus.
Further issues were identified in the report, which concluded that there was inadequate training of staff and an over-reliance on the use of ultrasound. In twelve of the twenty four cases, there had been no mandatory ultrasound training supplied at the time of the misdiagnosis and in a further six cases, the ultrasound machine that was used was more than five years old.
The chairman of the review, Professor William Ledger, explained that the twenty four cases of misdiagnosis occurred at the very early stages of pregnancy, when a medical practitioner placing too much dependency on ultrasound may have missed a minute heartbeat.
He continued – “Over-reliance on ultrasound to diagnose a miscarriage in very early pregnancy has been repeatedly highlighted since the introduction of the technique in the 1970s and we have made recommendations that caution against the use of ultrasound alone to detect a pregnancy before eight weeks gestation.”
When Melissa’s story broke and the review was announced last year, more than 400 women called helplines to seek advice and the HSE has only now issued an apology to those women and their families for the shortcomings in their care, and the distress that this will have caused them.