A twenty four year old man was awarded £4.68 million as compensation for the injuries he suffered as a result of his birth at the Wordsley Hospital, Stourbridge. The man suffers from cerebral palsy which affects his ability to undertake activities of daily living independently, he is dependent on others for aspects of his daily care such as washing, dressing and feeding.
A 9 year old child was awarded £320,000 in compensation for the injuries he suffered during birth at Southmead Hospital, Bristol in 1995. The child sustained a severe injury to the brachial plexus nerves in his neck as a result of negligence by the medical staff who handled his delivery. The child has a severe form of Erb's palsy and despite a number of operations, has only a weakly assistive left arm, with no independent function. He will be permanently and significantly disabled for the rest of his life and will require assistance with day to day activities.
A newborn baby developed breathing difficulties but her parents were reassured that this was normal. When her condition deteriorated after several hours, Group B Streptococcus was diagnosed but it was by then too late to save her life and she died aged only one day. Tozers represented her family at an inquest and persuaded the coroner to return a verdict criticising the delay in prioritising treatment.
A 7 year old child from South Wales was awarded £3.85 million in respect of the brain injury he suffered as a result of mismanagement of his birth at the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend. The hospital's negligence meant that in addition to his severe injuries, the child was thought unlikely to live into his thirties. An interesting point is that we secured an award of £118,000 payable to the child every year for life (with annual rises for inflation), which meant that he would always be able to pay for his care needs however long he lived - this is what is known as a structured settlement.
During heart surgery the surgeon cut through the tissues responsible for pacing the heart with the result that the patient now needs to have a pacemaker for the rest of her life. £60,000 was received in an out of court settlement.
Mrs X would only have required wide local excision and axillary clearance if her breast cancer had been diagnosed and treated in time. Instead, as a result of a delay in diagnosis and treatment she required a double mastectomy. £110,000 was awarded in damages.
A 61 year old multiple sclerosis sufferer who was wheelchair bound and cared for by her husband was admitted to a local nursing home for two weeks' respite care. It was alleged that the nursing home failed to carry out the required nursing assessment on admission which would have revealed that Mrs X was highly dependent and at a very high risk of developing pressure sores. Appropriate preventative measures were not taken and it was also alleged that inadequate care was provided following the discovery of a pressure sore resulting in deterioration. The sore had failed to heal and Mrs X she spent a further 6 months in hospital. Proceedings were issued at court against the owners of the nursing home but a settlement was reached shortly thereafter for £5,000.
During her birth a baby sustained shoulder dystocia, where the anterior shoulder (the one pointing upwards during the delivery) becomes stuck behind the mother's pubic bone. This is a recognised obstetric problem and if not properly dealt with can trigger Erb's palsy, an injury to the nerves which supply the shoulder, arm and hand. Tozers specialise in Erb's palsy claims but a difficulty with this case was that the injured shoulder was the posterior one - the one pointing downwards at birth, which is often argued cannot arise from negligent care. Despite this hurdle, we secured compensation of £185,000 for the injuries sustained.
A settlement was reached by Tozers in a claim against a GP for negligently prescribing antidepressants to a young mother, who died leaving 2 children aged 11 and 12 years. The deceased had demonstrated dose control difficulties in the past and it was alleged that the GP failed to adequately monitor and control the deceased use of antidepressants. A claim was brought on behalf of the children and a settlement was reached.
Mrs Y underwent spinal surgery at the hospital in 1999. Following surgery she developed a blood clot which compressed the spinal nerves and caused permanent damage. It was alleged that the hospital staff failed to identify the presence of, and remove the blood clot in a timely manner. As a result of the damage caused, Mrs Y required 4 months of initial rehabilitation in hospital. She suffered numbness and reduced feeling from the base of the spine to the feet. She had a dropped right foot and wore a splint. Mrs Y was incontinent, and suffered a prolapse of the bladder. An out of court settlement was reached with the solicitors acting for the Trust for £60,000 plus costs although the hospital denied it was negligent.
This complex claim arose from late diagnosis and surgical treatment of Cauda Equina in a woman 23 days after she had given birth. Cauda Equina is an injury to the nerves in the lower spine. It was agreed that there was a 50% chance the injuries, which included double incontinence and loss of earnings, could have been avoided. An award of £240,000 was achieved.
Mrs Z, a housewife, had been anaesthetised prior to her gall bladder operation but woke up before the operation had been completed and could feel a sharp pain in her stomach. She was not able to move or speak to alert anyone due to a muscle relaxant she had been given 20 minutes before the end of surgery. The defendants alleged only momentary consciousness. As a result of this experience she became withdrawn, frightened of having to go to hospital, did not want to have any more children and suffered panic attacks. She also suffered intrusive memories and nightmares.
A young girl tripped over a raised paving slab injuring her hip. Over the next three months her local hospital and two separate GPs all told her there was nothing to worry about although one leg had started to rotate outwards. X-rays eventually revealed a slipped upper femoral epiphysis, where the growing bones at the top of the leg become displaced. Although the four defendants (the local council, the hospital and both general practitioners) all denied negligence throughout, Tozers negotiated with all of them a settlement of £75,000 for what will be a life-long disability.
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