An eight-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, who sued the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin for alleged negligence in the circumstances of her birth, is to be paid more than £1 million under terms approved yesterday by the High Court.
Mr Justice O'Donovan was told the settlement was made without admission of liability, and that negligence was denied. He approved the sum of £1,116,530.
Lauren Dunphy, of St Brigid's Park, Blanchardstown, Co Dublin, was born at the hospital on July 24th, 1989. She now suffers from cerebral palsy, is unable to stand or walk, has a mental age of four to five years and is incapable of ordinary speech.
Mr Nicholas Kearns SC, for the child, who sued through her mother, Mrs Mary Dunphy, said the foetus was in severe distress between 2.15 p.m. and 4.35 p.m. on the day of the birth.
The case being made was that there should have been a Caesarean section delivery, counsel said. This was not done, and the baby was delivered by forceps at 4.35 p.m. When delivered, she was asphyxiated and critically ill.
Had action been taken at 2.15, the baby would have been born well, he claimed.
Now she cannot sit up independently or hold her head up properly, and has to be fed and dressed, he said. She had no speech in the ordinary sense but could make sounds which were intelligible to her mother.
She could indicate assent or when she was frustrated and annoyed. She could neither walk nor stand and her mental development was that of a child aged four to five, he said.
Mr Kearns said Lauren would require constant care. She was from a very loving family, and no words were adequate to convey the efforts her mother had made on her behalf.
She is not in pain and sleeps well. She is attending a special school where she can stay until she is 18. Then she will need a daily carer. Mrs Dunphy was adamant that she wished to continue as the main carer and that Lauren would remain in the family setting.
Mrs Dunphy said Lauren's general health was very good and she was very happy. She envisaged Lauren remaining at home. It was felt there would be a need for a care attendant on a daily basis when Lauren was 18.
Approving the settlement, Mr Justice O'Donovan said he knew the extent to which Mrs Dunphy had devoted her life to looking after Lauren. An application was later made to have Lauren made a ward of court.