A young boy suffering from cerebral palsy yesterday lost his High Court action alleging negligence in the circumstances of his birth at a Cork hospital.
Mr Justice Quirke deferred until May 4th his decision on who will pay the costs of the hearing, estimated at more than £1 million. The boy's lawyers are understood not to have sought fees.
In the action, believed to be the longest such in the history of the State, Ian O'Mahony (12) had, through his mother, Ann, of Beechwood Grove, Onslow Gardens, Commons Road, Cork, sued the Bon Secours Hospital, College Road, Cork, and a consultant obstetrician, Dr David A. Corr, formerly of Western Road, Cork.
It was alleged that Ian suffered from cerebral palsy, severe physical and mental handicap and epilepsy and that his disability was due to negligence in the circumstances of his birth at the Bon Secours hospital on May 11th, 1987. He sought damages for alleged negligence against the hospital and Dr Corr, who attended Ms O'Mahony at the birth.
The case was at hearing for 45 days before Mr Justice Quirke who, in a lengthy and detailed reserved judgment yesterday, dismissed the action against both the hospital and Dr Corr.
Mr Murray McGrath SC, for the defendants, applied for costs but the judge said he would deal with that matter on May 4th.
Mr Justice Quirke said that, while he unfortunately had been unable to find the action to be well founded, he wished to express admiration for the courage the boy's parents had shown. "No boy was better served by his parents than Ian had been," he said.
"Their contribution and commitment on his behalf had been of heroic proportions."
Ms O'Mahony, and her husband, John, expressed great disappointment with the outcome. Their solicitor, Mr Michael O'Connell, said Ian was impecunious and his lawyers had given their services ex gratia. A Supreme Court appeal is being considered.
The judge found that the hospital's systems and procedures were found wanting in two respects: a delay in Ian's delivery by a period between 7-12 minutes longer than the hospital's system contemplated; and inadequate nursing records within the "24-hour nursery" in the hospital where Ian was for 19 hours after his birth.
He said the evidence in the action had not established on the balance of probabilities that either of those two departures by the hospital from what would be a requisite standard of care (or a general and approved practice within other comparable hospitals) had caused or contributed to Ian's present disability.
He said Dr Corr had delivered Ian as soon as reasonably possible after signs of foetal distress became discernible to him.
He was satisfied as a matter of probability that the interval of some 20 minutes which elapsed between Dr Corr's being notified Ms O'Mahony had achieved full dilation and his arrival at the hospital was not unreasonable in the circumstances, did not fall short of the requisite standard of care Ms O'Mahony was required to expect from Dr Corr and was not a departure from general and approved medical practice applying to those circumstances in which Dr Corr found himself.
He found Dr Corr did not discover Ian had suffered a bradycardia (deprivation of oxygen and fall in foetal heart rate) and was therefore at risk of intra-uterine hypoxia until the doctor arrived at the hospital shortly after 5 p.m. on May 11th, 1987. Ian was delivered by forceps at 5.15 p.m.
The judge said Ian had not discharged the onus of proving, on the balance of probabilities, that his present disability was caused because he developed hypo glycaemia (low blood sugar levels), due to inadequate nursing care, during the six hours or so immediately after his birth.
He said it was difficult to avoid the conclusion that expert witnesses who testified for Ian were uncertain as to the cause of his disability and said all had freely admitted no case had ever been documented in medical literature or elsewhere which fitted Ian's clinical or radiological picture.
While expert medical testimony given at the trial had not identified the cause of Ian's present disability with precision, the judge said it was not true that evidence had out-ruled all causes other than brain damage consequent on hypoglaecemia.
The judge said clear evidence was adduced by one expert, supported by expert medical studies, which indicated that between 3340 per cent of children with severe mental handicap cannot be diagnosed as to the probable cause of their condition.
