Birth injury claim news
03/02/2010

Landmark compensation case for 28-year-old victim

A disabled 28-year-old man from Coventry has won a landmark birth injury compensation battle after winning the right to make his claim outside the usual time limit for such cases.

Normally a birth injury claim must be launched before the child affected by medical negligence reaches the age of 21, but after taking his case to the High Court in 2008, the man, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy, was granted permission to mount the legal challenge.

The man and his medical negligence solicitors then reached an out-of-court settlement with Tameside NHS Foundation Trust for £2 million in damages payments even though the hospital involved has never admitted responsibility for his disability.

The man's solicitors claim that during his birth midwives should have acted more promptly when his heart rate decelerated quickly. Obstetricians then attempted a ventouse and forceps delivery, which failed, followed by a Caesarean section. Unfortunately, by that time he had suffered significant birth injury.

The claimant said, "I knew I had cerebral palsy from birth, but I had always been led to believe that it was just one of those unfortunate things which could not have been avoided.

"It wasn't until I was in my early 20s that I started to do some investigating. At that stage I really just wanted answers.

"After obtaining advice from independent medical experts they advised me there were concerns about the way my birth was handled and I was determined to get justice."

The birth injury compensation payout is likely to be used to provide ongoing 24-hour care for the man who cannot talk, uses a wheelchair and communicates through the use of a computer keyboard which he activates with his nose.