A girl aged 12 with cerebral palsy will receive £750,000 under a settlement approved by the High Court yesterday.
Mr Justice O'Donovan said he had to decide whether the court should accept the pre-trial offer of £750,000 for Cianna Shinnors or, if the matter went to trial, take the risk that she might get £2.5 million if successful and nothing if she were not.
The girl's mother, Mrs Brenda Shinnors Kennedy of Ashleigh Wood, Monaleen, Castletroy, Limerick, had told the court she was not happy with the amount offered.
The judge said, however, that in the circumstances and in the girl's best interests, he felt he should accept the offer.
Mrs Shinnors Kennedy, suing on behalf of her daughter, had claimed damages for negligence from Dr Donal O'Sullivan, consultant obstetrician at St Munchin's Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick, and the Mid Western Health Board. Had the action proceeded, it was expected to last four weeks.
Cianna was one of twin daughters born to Mrs Shinnors Kennedy on February 10th, 1986. Her twin, Caoilinn, is a healthy child.
In court yesterday, Mr Murray McGrath SC, on behalf of the doctor and the board, said the offer was without admission of any liability.
Mr James Nugent SC, for the child, said that had the case gone ahead, there might have been difficulty regarding the cause of the girl's condition.
He said Mrs Shinnors Kennedy was on fertility treatment when she became pregnant in summer 1985. That October, she was told she was carrying twins. In January 1986, she haemorrhaged and was admitted to hospital. Some days later she had an ultra scan examination when it was found the placenta was blocking the exit from the uterus.
Although kept in hospital, she was allowed home at weekends. On February 10th, 1986, she was readmitted to hospital and began to haemorrhage severely around 6 p.m. She was not seen by Dr O'Sullivan until almost five hours later, counsel said. Mr Nugent said it was his case that, as a result of this delay, Cianna was born with cerebral palsy.
Though Cianna had some visual difficulties, she could go to the cinema and could see a computer screen.
She had a phenomenal memory and while medical evidence might suggest she was borderline mentally handicapped, her mother would say she was not.
Mrs Shinnors Kennedy said she felt unhappy with the award on behalf of her daughter.
Mr Justice Donovan said he had to be realistic about what was on offer. If the case went ahead, her daughter might get £2 million or nothing if she lost.
He had to decide which was in the girl's best interests. The offer represented a lot of money with which much could be done for Cianna's benefit.