The National Maternity Hospital wanted to settle the Gallagher case long before it went to court because the hospital believed it would not win the case, hospital master Dr Declan Keane said last night.
Blaise Gallagher (6), who has cerebral palsy, is quadriplegic and blind, was awarded £2.15 million in the High Court this week.
Dr Keane revealed that the legal costs in the long-running court case were £35,000 a day, amounting to £1.75 million. However, the insurer representing the obstetrician, Dr Joseph Stanley, a co-defendant in the case, had put up an "abysmally low" amount for settlement prior to the case. Also, he said, the parents, Mrs Avril and Mr Conal Gallagher, had wanted £4.5 million to settle the case which was "way above previous settlements", even for infants born at full term. Blaise was born at 29 weeks. A settlement was finally agreed after Dr Stanley's insurer - the Medical Defence Union - increased its offer, he said.
Defending the hospital, Dr Keane said it was the biggest maternity hospital in Europe. Last year it had the lowest perinatal mortality rate of the three Dublin maternity hospitals.
Dr Keane said the hospital was aware, on the basis of previous cases, that no Irish judge would award against a child born with cerebral palsy even though medical literature showed that in the majority of cases it was not caused during birth.
"No case involving a cerebral palsy (CP) child has been won in a court of law in this country to date. With the current adversarial climate our feelings are that all CP cases will receive money from a judge who knows that the child needs to be looked after for the rest of their lives," he said.
He called for the establishment, by the Government, of a no fault compensation system to pay for the care of children born with cerebral palsy.
The Irish Times has learned that Mrs Avril Gallagher is taking her own case against the hospital and Dr Joseph Stanley. According to her solicitor, Mr Brian O'Donnell of Graham Fry & Co, she is taking the case for "damage done to her during the operation, the trauma suffered and loss of income". Blaise is her only child and Mr O'Donnell claimed that his mother's uterus had been torn when her son was delivered by emergency Caesarean section. "It was an appallingly difficult operation."
However, Dr Keane said the hospital had no wish for Mrs Gallagher's own case to go to court. The case would probably "come up for assessment" in front of a judge and hopefully be settled. He said it had already been assessed by actuaries. In New Zealand and Canada a no fault compensation system existed, he said. "The State picks up the tab. Because of that the parents do not seek retribution against the hospital."
He said that if this system was introduced it would save the State money. At present the Department of Health pays 80 per cent of the £34,000 annual insurance cover for most obstetricians, and also pays for the hospital insurance. He said that the National Maternity Hospital's insurance policy was shared by the Coombe and Rotunda hospitals. The policy costs £200,000 per year and Holles St was covered for £5 million. "This will have to be increased now," he said.