England 12/08/2013 – Of the 14,171 medical negligence claims closed by the NHSLA last year, the biggest payouts where for negligence that had led to a brain injuries.
It is not unusual for brain injury compensation payouts to run into hundreds of thousands, or even millions of pounds. These kinds of injuries are rarely reversible. Even with the right support, medical attention and physiotherapy most patients with brain injuries rarely make a complete recovery. This means that many of them are left severely disabled in some way. In some cases, unable to talk or walk. Therefore, the impact on the patient’s ability to lead a normal life is severe.
Naturally, this means that in cases where a lifetime of care will be necessary the payouts have to be significant to ensure that the patient gets the support that they need througout their life. Fortunately, brain injury negligence is extremely rare. However, it does happen.
These injuries often happen as a result of the wrong drugs being administered, misdiagnosis or late diagnosis, or errors made during surgery. For children the most common cause of permanent brain injury is a lack of oxygen during the birthing process. The impact of the child being deprived of oxygen at birth varies significantly from case to case, but it is not uncommon for children deprived of oxygen at birth to be left severely disabled. Naturally, because they have their whole life ahead of them it is these cases which end up in the largest sums being paid out. It is not unusual for a child of the situation to be awarded a seven figure settlement.
Medical negliegence claims are changing things for the better
The fact that the level of medical negligence claims has risen so steeply in UK, over the past few years, concerns many. However, the fact that people are now actually suing when they suffer medical negligence is, overal, having a positive impact. It is ensuring that the healthcare institutions that are making these mistakes are examined closely, and that lessons are learned, preventing others from suffering from similar mistakes.
These complex cases require specialist legal advice. Bringing a medical negligence case for brain injury is complex and difficult. Fortunately, many realise this and are turning to specialist solicitors such as Lees who have years of experience of dealing with medical negligence cases, including those involving injuries to the brain.