Health Law

Girl Claims 300,000 Pounds in Damages

A four-year old Gloucester, England girl - disabled from injuries at birth - is at the center of a 300,000 pound High Court claim for hospital negligence.  300,000 pounds translates to about $590,000 in U.S. dollars in today's money market(7/14/08).  Her mother, Olubunmi Alaka, is suing Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust.

The filed writ claims that Temiloluwa Alaka has a disabled shoulder as a result of injuries that occurred when she became stuck during delivery.  The nerves in her neck and shoulder were alleged to have been damaged.  She suffers permanent physical disability.  Physiotherapy has helped to some degree but but further improvement will not take place.  Her condition may7 deteriorate and surgery will not help her condition.

During delivery the baby's head was delivered but the shoulders became stuck and a midwife called for help.  Hospital staff noticed that the baby was not moving her left arm,questioned the possibility of Erb's Palsy but no structured follow-up was arranged.

Her legal team is claiming that the hospital had no logical, structured plan for dealing with shoulder dystocia, failed to implement guidelines, failed to supervise the midwife, allowed her to take overall responsibility for Mrs. Alaka's care and she pulled too hard when the baby got stuck.

Full post as published by Cerebral Palsy Law Blog on July 14, 2008 (boomark / email).