August 7th, 2009
A man who suffered long-lasting injuries after he was hit head-on by another vehicle is to receive £3.3 million in compensation.
Sean Milligan, 44, had been driving in Lanarkshire in May 2004 when Mark Lynch came in the other direction on the wrong side of the road.
Mr Milligan sustained injuries to his brain which mean that he is now unable to care for himself and suffers from bouts of anger. He also has difficulty balancing and walking, the BBC attests.
He took legal action against Mr Lynch and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) has now agreed to the payout.
Making the ruling, Lord Woolman at the Court of Session in Edinburgh said Mr Milligan’s compensation should be particularly high due to his pain and suffering.
The MIB aims to reduce the level and impact of uninsured driving and handles 30,000 claims every year for accidents which involve uninsured vehicles.
Tags: 3m, Accidents, Anger, Bbc, Bouts, Brain, Drunk Driver, Edinburgh, Hit Man, Lanarkshire, Mib, Milligan, Motor Insurers Bureau, Woolman, Wrong Side Of The Road
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July 15th, 2009
A girl who suffers from cerebral palsy after being the victim of what was later described as a "negligent birth" has been awarded a multi-million pound compensation settlement.
Abigail Thomas, now six, was born at St Mary’s Hospital in Portsmouth, but errors by medical staff meant that she was starved of oxygen.
She went on to develop quadriplegic cerebral palsy and now needs constant care to deal with her physical impairments, the Portsmouth News reports.
Through her mother Jacqueline, Abigail sued Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust for clinical negligence. It admitted liability and has now agreed to a compensation settlement of £1.3 million.
This will cover the cost of carers for Abigail, including a night-time helper to relieve her parents.
Nick Block, spokesperson for the NHS trust, said: "We hope that this settlement will provide financial security and help to lift the family’s burden."
According to Scope, there has been a slight increase in the proportion of children who have cerebral palsy in recent years – approximately one in every 400 children is affected.
Tags: 3m, Abigail Thomas, Carers, Cerebral Palsy, Clinical Negligence, Constant Care, Financial Security, Hospitals Nhs Trust, Jacqueline, Medical Staff, News Reports, Night Time, Oxygen, Physical Impairments, Portsmouth Hospitals Nhs Trust, Proportion, S Hospital, Scope, Spokesperson
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April 23rd, 2009
An NHS trust has awarded compensation of £6.3 million to the parents of a girl who was left brain damaged due to mistakes at her birth.
Ellie Matraves was born clinically dead at Lister Hospital in Herfordshire in 2002 because medical staff had not noticed that she was showing signs of distress, the high court heard.
She had to be aggressively resuscitated for several hours and developed cerebral palsy, leaving her with communication problems and a reduced developmental age, the BBC reports.
Her parents Claire and Colin Matraves took legal action against the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust for clinical negligence.
"We feel it is important for people to understand that if it hadn’t been for the hospital’s appalling negligence, our daughter would have been born a healthy non-disabled baby girl," they said in a statement.
The trust admitted liability and has agreed to a £2.4 million lump sum payout, as well as annual payments to cover care for the rest of Ellie’s life.
According to Scope, one in 400 children in the UK suffers from cerebral palsy. Around ten per cent of cerebral palsy compensation claims are due to complications at birth.
Tags: 3m, Baby Girl, Bbc, Brain, Cerebral Palsy, Clinical Negligence, Communication Problems, Compensation Claims, Ellie, Herfordshire, Lump Sum Payout, Medical Staff, Nhs Trust, North Hertfordshire, Parents, People, Scope, Signs
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July 28th, 2008
A company in County Durham has banned its employees from using mobile phones while they are at the wheel.
Workers at the 3M manufacturing plant in Newton Aycliffe have been told they cannot use mobiles, or even hands-free devices, while using their cars for business.
The company has been running a child safety road campaign since 2005, which has involved the distribution of 95,000 high visibility vests to young people in a bid to reduce the number of accidents on roads in the area.
Doug Mitchell, 3M’s managing director, said there is compelling evidence that using mobiles while driving impairs a motorist’s performance.
Katie Shephard, fundraising manager for the road safety charity Brake, agreed: "Research has shown that it is the phone conversation that distracts and kills, regardless of whether a hands-free kit is used or not."
She added: "We hope other companies will follow 3M’s lead and introduce this ban as part of their health and safety policy."
Tags: 3m, Accidents, Charity, Child Safety, Compelling Evidence, County Durham, Doug Mitchell, Hands Free Kit, Health And Safety, High Visibility, Managing Director, Manufacturing Plant, Mobile Phone Use, Mobile Phones, Newton Aycliffe, Phone Conversation, Road Safety, Safety Policy, Visibility Vests, Wheel
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June 19th, 2008
Almost £3 million has been paid in compensation on behalf of GPs to patients suffering from depression, it has been revealed.
The Medical Defence Union (MDU), the largest organisation of its kind in the UK, said the money had been used to settle 30 claims relating to treatment of patients within a recent ten-year-period, reports Medical News Today.
Misdiagnosis and mismanagement of patients were among the main reasons for many of the claims.
Consultant psychiatrist and MDU council members Professor Femi Oyebode commented in the latest issue of MDU Journal that in most cases, the treatment of depression is relatively straightforward.
"However when something does go wrong, the nature of the condition and the type of medication involved means there is significant potential for an adverse outcome," he said.
According to NHS Direct, most of the 5,000 suicides committed every year in the UK are linked to depression, with women twice as likely to suffer from it as men.
Tags: 3m, Consultant Psychiatrist, Council Members, Femi, Gps, Mdu, Medical Defence Union, Medical News, Medication, Misdiagnosis, Mismanagement, Money, News Today, Suffering From Depression, Suicides, Treatment Of Depression
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