A sum of £2.15 million is to be paid to a six-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who is quadriplegic and blind in settlement of his action against the National Maternity Hospital and a consultant obstetrician.
Mr Justice Quirke yesterday said there was no doubt lessons learned from the events surrounding Blaise Gallagher's birth would give the child's parents the comfort of knowing that Blaise had in his own way contributed to the risk of this type of birth/pregnancy being minimised in the future.
Under the settlement, made without admission of liability and approved by the High Court, the money will be paid into the court and a trust will be set up for the child. The court has heard he is "totally dependent" and will require life-long specialised care.
Blaise was born at the National Maternity Hospital on April 27th, 1992, two days after his mother, then aged 31 and in the 29th week of her pregnancy, was admitted. The child was born by Caesarean section.
Suing through his mother, Mrs Avril Gallagher, Roundwood, Co Wicklow, Blaise had sought damages against the NMH, Holles Street, Dublin and obstetrician Dr Joseph Stanley (now retired) for alleged negligence in the circumstances of his birth. The defendants denied the claims.
The settlement was announced yesterday, the 23rd day of the case, which had opened before Mr Justice Quirke last month.
Total legal costs and expenses are estimated at around £1 million. Costs incurred by the boy are to be paid by the hospital.
The case for Blaise took 20 days and evidence for the defence began only last Tuesday when Dr Stanley entered the witness box. His cross-examination had not concluded when the case was adjourned while settlement talks got under way. The talks resumed yesterday and went on until the late afternoon.
Announcing the settlement yesterday, Mr Richard Nesbitt SC, for the child, said there was to be a payment into court of £2.15 million. The defendants were committed to making that payment within six weeks, although they would make their best endeavours to do so within four weeks.
Counsel said one of the issues that would arise in the case was the manner in which the monies obtained by the plaintiff should be protected and should be made available to maintain him for the rest of his life.
His clients were anxious to make an application to be allowed establish a trust which they believed was the best way of getting the best out of the capital forthwith. The settlement monies would be paid into the trust.
Mr Nesbitt thanked the judge for the painstaking attention he had given the case and the very humane way he had dealt with all the parties. Mr Murray McGrath SC, for Dr Stanley, and Mr Sean Ryan SC, for the hospital, said it was agreed the settlement was entirely without admission of liability.
Mr Justice Quirke made an order for the payment into court of £2.15 million. He gave liberty for an application to be made to the court for the creation of a trust and for applications to be made whenever appropriate for payments out.
The judge said he was sure Mr and Mrs Gallagher had mixed emotions at the moment. He was sure they were conscious of the fact that the income would provide Blaise with the comforts he would require and, the judge hoped, some episodes of joy which he would share with them.
Blaise had been deprived of a lot of things which we took for granted but had been blessed with the invaluable gift he had received - the deep love and affection and care of caring parents. He knew everybody in court wished Blaise and his parents well.
At the opening of the case on January 12th last, Mr Nesbitt stated that Mrs Gallagher was admitted to the hospital early on Saturday, April 25th, 1992, following what was believed to be spontaneous rupture of the womb's membranes. Blaise was born in the early hours of April 27th.
It was claimed that in April 1992 there was a failure to diagnose the presentation of the baby in the uterus and to use proper or appropriate equipment in the treatment.
It was also claimed there was a failure to heed requests and complaints from Mrs Gallagher before the Caesarean operation and that the baby was deprived of oxygen during his delivery.
There was a failure to diagnose the onset of premature labour and a failure to carry out a Caesarean section in time to avoid physical injury to Blaise, it was submitted.
Mr Nesbitt, in his opening, said a senior medical team should have been called in when Mrs Gallagher was in labour, but that did not happen. On the Monday morning, Mrs Gallagher had had to make a phone call to her husband, who rang the obstetrician who then phoned the hospital, counsel said. Nurses rushed Mrs Gallagher to the operating theatre.