Louis Bown (By His Mother & Litigation Friend Penny Bown) V National Health Service Litigation Authority (2004)

The claimant, a 10-year-old boy, received £1,000,000 for the cerebral palsy sustained during his birth in August 1993. The claimant suffered from microcephaly and epilepsy. He was wheelchair dependant and was relied on others for all his daily needs.

Claimant: Male: Newborn at date of accident; 10 years old at date of settlement.
Clinical Negligence: On 28 August 1993, the claimant's mother went into labour with the claimant at the defendant's hospital. During his birth, the claimant suffered from a lack of oxygen due to a compression of his umbilical cord.

The claimant sustained injury and brought an action against the defendant alleging that it was negligent in the handling of his birth, which caused him injury.

Liability disputed.

It was agreed between the parties that the claimant's asphyxia was caused by cord compression or occlusion and that the claimant's injuries were suffered approximately ten minutes prior to his birth. However, the defendant had misplaced clinical records relating to the labour, including the CTG monitoring of the foetal heart rate, which had been running continuously for nine-and-a-half hours prior to the claimant's birth. The medical experts for both parties were compelled to reconstruct the course of events from other clinical notes.

Injuries: The claimant suffered from cerebral palsy and severe brain damage during his birth.

Effects: The claimant suffered from dystonic cerebral palsy with microcephaly and epilepsy. He had a severe degree of motor impairment and was dependant on others for all his daily needs. The claimant was unable to feed himself and needed a wheelchair for mobility and all activities of his daily living.

Prognosis: The claimant's injuries were permanent and his life expectancy was reduced to 29 years of age.
Out of Court Settlement (approved): £1,000,000 total damages.

Background to damages: The claimant's schedule of loss was for a total sum of £3,200,000, however the defendant's counter schedule was valued at £1,000,000. Taking into account areas and heads of claim where concession would have to be made, the settlement represented between 40 and 45 per cent of the calculation of the claimant's case on full liability.

QBD (Eady J) 16/1/2004LTLPI 4/3/2004 (Unreported elsewhere)
Document No.: AM0900711

Louis Bown (By His Mother & Litigation Friend Penny Bown) V National Health Service Litigation Authority (2004)

The claimant, a 10-year-old boy, received £1,000,000 for the cerebral palsy sustained during his birth in August 1993. The claimant suffered from microcephaly and epilepsy. He was wheelchair dependant and was relied on others for all his daily needs.

Claimant: Male: Newborn at date of accident; 10 years old at date of settlement.
Clinical Negligence: On 28 August 1993, the claimant's mother went into labour with the claimant at the defendant's hospital. During his birth, the claimant suffered from a lack of oxygen due to a compression of his umbilical cord.

The claimant sustained injury and brought an action against the defendant alleging that it was negligent in the handling of his birth, which caused him injury.

Liability disputed.

It was agreed between the parties that the claimant's asphyxia was caused by cord compression or occlusion and that the claimant's injuries were suffered approximately ten minutes prior to his birth. However, the defendant had misplaced clinical records relating to the labour, including the CTG monitoring of the foetal heart rate, which had been running continuously for nine-and-a-half hours prior to the claimant's birth. The medical experts for both parties were compelled to reconstruct the course of events from other clinical notes.

Injuries: The claimant suffered from cerebral palsy and severe brain damage during his birth.

Effects: The claimant suffered from dystonic cerebral palsy with microcephaly and epilepsy. He had a severe degree of motor impairment and was dependant on others for all his daily needs. The claimant was unable to feed himself and needed a wheelchair for mobility and all activities of his daily living.

Prognosis: The claimant's injuries were permanent and his life expectancy was reduced to 29 years of age.
Out of Court Settlement (approved): £1,000,000 total damages.

Background to damages: The claimant's schedule of loss was for a total sum of £3,200,000, however the defendant's counter schedule was valued at £1,000,000. Taking into account areas and heads of claim where concession would have to be made, the settlement represented between 40 and 45 per cent of the calculation of the claimant's case on full liability.

QBD (Eady J) 16/1/2004LTLPI 4/3/2004 (Unreported elsewhere)
Document No.: AM0900711