A SAN JAVIER couple will get €1.2 million in compensation after the birth of their baby boy left him with a permanent disability.
The award was confirmed by the Madrid Provincial Court after the insurance company used by the Murcian Health Health service filed an appeal over the ‘excessive’ sum awarded by a lower court.
The boy was delivered in the Los Arcos del Mar Menor hospital in June 2016 but suffered from dystocia during labour which caused the entrapment of his right shoulder.
As a result of extraction procedures in the hospital delivery room, three nerve roots were torn causing obstetric brachial palsy.
Since then, the youngster has undergone three surgeries and multiple rehab sessions but has been left with permanent mobility and strength restrictions on his right arm and shoulder.
The boy- now aged seven- cannot do basic things like pulling down his trousers with both hands or scratching his back.
A lower court found in favour of the parents, after deciding excessive force was used in the baby’s delivery with correct procedures not followed by the duty gynaecologist.
The insurance company launched an appeal, but the Madrid court subsequently rejected their action.
The boy’s father, Hassan, told the La Verdad newspaper: “Money is not going to do everything because he has been deprived of many things.”
“We will continue to try to find a treatment to help him to continue recovering,” Hassan added.
Years of continuous treatment have been ‘very difficult’ because Hassan and his wife Doña have had to combine caring for their son with Hassan’s job as a long-distance lorry driver making journeys mainly to the UK.
The family also have two other children to look after.
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