£10 million payout for girl left disabled at birth

[Stan 386]

As we all know, the law is an ass! Many huge payments have been awarded by ill-informed and mis informed judges -particularly sitting alone without jury. Recent up to the minute research shows problems during delivery is only 1 of many causes e.g.

Causes

Cerebral palsy is caused by an abnormality or disruption in brain development, usually before a child is born. In many cases, the exact trigger of this abnormality isn't known. Factors that may lead to problems with brain development include:

Random mutations in genes that control brain development

Maternal infections that affect the developing fetus

Fetal stroke, a disruption of blood supply to the developing brain

Lack of oxygen to the brain (asphyxia) related to difficult labor or delivery

Infant infections that cause inflammation in or around the brain

Traumatic head injury to an infant from a motor vehicle accident, fall or child abuse

etc.

So causes from 22 years ago would be very difficult to evaluate.

What is important is treatments are helping:

A PROMISING study into cerebral palsy may pave the way to a cure for the chronic condition, experts have said.

The study, published in the journal Stem Cells, found that patients who underwent a special treatment involving transfused umbilical cord blood cells experienced big improvements in brain and movement function.

"I think this is the most promising study we've ever seen in the area of stem cells," said Associate Professor Iona Novak, the head of research at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance (formerly known as the ******* Centre). "This is looking like a possible path to a cure."

[piggy and babs 544]

stan i no a lot of new reserch is happening but there must have been a lot of evidence proving the hostpital was neglectful at the birth only about 1in every 100 cases brought ever even get to court as there is not enough evedence.

having a child as badly handicaped as that takes a lot of hart work and dedication and a lot of special equipmenta lot of wich youhave to pay for yourselfs so although we might think this is a lot of money this young lady could live for another 60 tears yet and requirer a lot of care and if she dose pass away early the yeary care payments will stop.

my uncle had cerable palsy although not as serverly as this and lived untill he was nearly 90 up untill he was 80 he lived an active indipendant life before having to go into a care home . but my sisters niece has a son with severe cerible palsy who is now in his late 30s who requires 24 hour care is confind to special wheelchairand requires a lot of specialist equip ment for his needs some of wich has to be paid for by charity eventshe is till looked after at the moment by his parents who are now in there 50s so the time my come soon when he will have to go and live in a care home.. although i know in this case his birth was quite troarmatic they could not get to court as not enough evedence could be proven that the hostpital was negligent, his father had to give up his job to help with his care when he was in his 20s as it was getting too much for his mum on her own yes they could have said alright letsput him in a care home and let the state pay for his care but chose to carry on with him living at home.

[Stan 386]

“The greatest problem is the huge and wasteful amounts ambulance chasing lawyers cost the NHS/State. Over 22 years their fees would surely approach the settlement figure. Lawyers are the ultimate parasites-see how many M.P.s are from this training.

Also ,one wonders with all the recent knowledge if the true cause is known in this case.

I think the New Zealanders have the answer!

In 1974 New Zealand jettisoned a tort-based system for compensating medical injuries in favor of a government-funded compensation system. Although the system retained some residual fault elements, it essentially barred medical malpractice litigation. Reforms in 2005 expanded eligibility for compensation to all "treatment injuries," creating a true no-fault compensation system. Compared with a medical malpractice system, the New Zealand system offers more-timely compensation to a greater number of injured patients and more-effective processes for complaint resolution and provider accountability. The unfinished business lies in realizing its full potential for improving patient safety.”