Richard Earle
acted in an obstetrics negligence claim
on behalf of Dean's mother. The case was settled for
£200,000.
Dean was born on 1 December 1990 in a very good
condition. Dean breast fed well initially and no abnormalities
were recorded.
Unfortunately, Dean developed a serious
infection shortly after birth, which resulted in a high
temperature, high pitched screaming, photophobia and failure to
feed. Dean's mother was herself incapacitated due to the effects of
the Caesarean section and a long-standing symphis pubis
dysfunction.
The midwives failed to heed the mother’s reported
concerns and ignored Dean'scontinuous screaming. Dean was not
properly examined and not referred to a paediatrician.
On the fourth day, Dean suffered a cardiac and
respiratory arrest. The crash team were delayed in attending
and as a result, we alleged, that Dean suffered
hypoxia. He was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit
and it was discovered that he had a bacterial blood infection.
Sadly, Dean remained neurologically abnormal
following the resuscitation and tragically died on 28 December
1999.
Richard Earle was instructed to pursue an
obstetrics negligence claim against the hospital on behalf of
Dean's estate. He asserted that Dean's injuries and
subsequent death would have been avoided with proper treatment.
We also alleged that his mother’s PTSD (which
included intrusive, distressing recollections of the event, bad
dreams and flashbacks) were caused by the negligence of the
hospital.
The basis of the claim was that the midwives were
negligent in failing to recognise his illness and to refer him for
investigation and treatment.
The hospital denied liability and we received
statements from 18 witnesses in support of the defence.
However, we were able to trace a witness and obtain
a statement from another mother on the ward who had heard and
commented on Dean's unusual high pitched screaming.
Experts reports were exchanged in the fields of
midwifery, neonatology, microbiology and psychiatry.
The case was listed for trial in September 2005 but
settled after negotiation for £200,000 plus costs.
The case was initially funded under a Legal Expenses Policy and then a conditional fee agreement.
For further information or if you have
a midwife negligence claim,
call Richard Earle on
020 7861 4041 or email richard.earle@ffw.com
You can discuss your midwife negligence
claim with any member of our medical
negligence team on
freephone 0800 358 3848, email personalinjury@ffw.com or
complete our short enquiry form.