‘Why did they have to fight us all the way?’
At 33 weeks, James’ identical twin brother Daniel was found to have died in the womb. When James was delivered by emergency caesarean section, he was weak and seriously ill. “That is the day our lives were torn apart,” his mother Linda said outside the Four Courts where an eight-year legal battle came to an end.
Mr Justice Kevin Cross approved an interim settlement of €2.75m for James’ care over the next three years. The findings were made against gynaecologist and consultant obstetrician at St Joseph’s Hospital, Clonmel, Raymond Howard. Liability in the case was admitted just six weeks ago. At the start of the case, the High Court was told proceedings against the hospital and HSE could be struck out and the matter was going ahead against Dr Howard, who admitted liability.
Senior counsel for James, John O’Kelly, said James was the “victim of the most appalling injuries”. He can’t walk, talk, or even sit on his own but, because of the dedication of his parents, Linda McCarthy and her partner James Cooney, he is able to attend a special school.
His parents only discovered James was catastrophically injured and had cerebral palsy around the time of his first birthday.
Ms McCarthy was 19 and expecting twins when she was referred to St Joseph’s Hospital for antenatal care under the care of Dr Howard.
She was not seen by Dr Howard on November 13, 2001, but by his registrar who expressed concern after a scan and wanted to admit Ms McCarthy. Counsel said the registrar consulted with Dr Howard, who did not believe she should be admitted, and Ms McCarthy was asked to come back in one week. On November 20, a scan showed that one of the twins had died and a caesarean was performed later that day.
Ms McCarthy told the court that nobody told her anything when James was delivered. She did not even get a chance to hold baby Daniel.
The next day she said Dr Howard told her “these things happen” and to concentrate on James. Ms McCarthy, who was under Dr Howard’s care since April 2001, said she had not met him prior to the day he came to visit her on November 21, 2001, after James was delivered.
Outside court, she read a statement saying November 20, 2001, is a day they will never forget. “That is the day on which our lives were torn apart. James will be 13 in November and he is a wonderful son, brother and grandson. We also cannot forget his twin brother Daniel, who we never got to hold.”
She said the courts was the last place they wanted to be and she asked why there was a legal fight “all the way”.
A 12-year-old Tipperary boy who was catastrophically injured in the final stages of his mother’s pregnancy has settled his High Court action with an interim settlement of €2.75m for the next three years.
James McCarthy can not walk, talk, or sit up on his own. He was delivered by emergency caesarean section at 33 weeks when a scan showed his identical twin had died in the womb.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Kevin Cross approved the €2.75m interim settlement against consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Raymond Howard. The case will come before the court again in three years when the boy’s future care needs will be assessed.
James, of Derrygrath, Clonmel, had, through his mother Linda McCarthy, sued Dr Howard, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at St Joseph’s Hospital, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, as a result of injuries he suffered.
At the start of the case, the High Court was told the proceedings against the hospital and the HSE could be struck out but that the matter was going ahead against Dr Howard, who had admitted liability.
It was claimed that neither James’s condition nor that of his mother were investigated, monitored, diagnosed, or treated properly or at all so that James was born with severe disabilities.
Senior counsel John O’Kelly said that, in April 2001, Ms McCarthy was told she was expecting twins and was referred to St Joseph’s Hospital for antenatal care under the care of Dr Howard.
Ms McCarthy was not seen by Dr Howard but by his registrar who, after a scan on November 13, 2001, had expressed concern and wanted to admit Ms McCarthy.
Mr O’Kelly said the registrar consulted with Dr Howard, who did not believe she should be admitted. She was asked to come back in a week. On Nov-ember 20, a scan showed that one of the twins had died and a caesarean was performed later that day.
Mr O’Kelly said that, as a result, James has been left a spastic paraplegic. He told Mr Justice Cross because of the effort put in by James’s parents, the boy, even though he lives with severe physical disabilities, is able to attend a special school.
Approving the interim settlement, Mr Justice Cross said he knew that, in the cases of the catastrophically injured, it is the families, and particularly the parents, who deserve the main credit. He praised Ms McCarthy and James’ father James Cooney for their dedication and care of their son.
Ms McCarthy told the High Court last week that she got no opportunity to see her dead baby, Daniel, or James before he was transferred to another hospital after his delivery on November 20, 2001. “Nobody explained. It is like everybody went silent,” she said.
The next day, she said her consultant obstetrician, Dr Howard, told her that “these things happen” and to concentrate on James. Ms McCarthy, who was under the care of Dr Howard since April 2001, said she had not met him prior to the day he came to visit her on November 21, 2001, after James was delivered.
She said that when James was discharged from hospital in December 2001, she and Mr Cooney thought they were bringing home a healthy baby apart from being born premature. He cried constantly and it was around James’s first birthday that they learned he had cerebral palsy and, over time, they discovered the severity of his disability.
Dr Howard was held liable for about €3.75m damages awarded to a severely disabled teenage girl over brain injuries suffered during her hospital birth.
The High Court found the severe injuries suffered by Nicole Hassett, Cashel Rd, Clonmel, were caused by the “simply inexplicable” delay by Dr Howard in not delivering the child by 12.30am on November 15, 1997, at St Joseph’s Maternity Hospital in Clonmel.
The judge ruled that the HSE was entitled to be indemnified by Dr Howard for a settlement award of €3.75m to the child, agreed in 2005.
A woman who was transferred between hospitals while in continuous pain from her ectopic pregnancy was awarded €75,000 in personal injury compensation at the High Court.
Anne English, aged 47, from Clonmel, had attended St Joseph’s Hospital, Clonmel, in 1996, with a suspected molar pregnancy — an unusual condition in which abnormal growth occurs instead of foetal tissue.
The court attributed 60% blame to the former South Eastern Health Board and 40% to Dr Howard.
: An 8-year-old girl with cerebral palsy settled for €4.85m in her action for damages over injuries sustained at her birth. It brought the total paid to Kate Murphy of Fethard, Co Tipperary, to €6.5m.
The case first came before the High Court in March, 2011, when she received an interim compensation payment of €1.3m after South Tipperary General Hospital admitted failings during her delivery. She was later given a further €400,000.
The action was brought through Kate’s mother, Sarah Murphy, against the HSE, South Tipperary General Hospital, and consultant Raymond Howard.
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