London, UK (PRWEB UK) 27 January 2014 -- According to court documents Maisha Najeeb, now aged 13, brought a claim for compensation for treatment received at Great Ormond Street Hospital for the alleged incidental injection of glue into her brain, which left her profoundly brain damaged and blind in one eye.
At the time, Maisha was a healthy 10-year old girl. She has a rare medical condition, arterio-venous malformation ('AVM'), that involves arteries and veins getting tangled and occurs in about 1% of people.
AVMs can be serious when they result in a bleed. However, Maisha was able to lead a very normal life. She had had 5 bleeds that had required treatment by embolisation, which were without complication.
The embolisation procedure involves an injection of glue (an embolic agent) to block off the bleeding blood vessels, and an injection of a harmless dye (contrast) to check the flow of blood around her brain and head.
On 2 June 2010, Maisha had a bleed which required embolisation. According to claims in the law suit, tragically there was no system in place of distinguishing the syringes containing the glue from the syringes containing the contrast, and they got mixed-up in the operating theatre. This the law suit alleges resulted in glue, instead of dye, being wrongly injected into the artery to Maisha's brain. The glue caused catastrophic and permanent brain damage.
Maisha's father instructed Edwina Rawson, medical negligence solicitor and partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse, to pursue a claim for compensation against Great Ormond Street Hospital.
According to court documents Great Ormond Street Hospital admitted negligence and that it had caused all of Maisha's difficulties. Judgment was entered on 1 March 2012 under the case reference TLQ/12/0817.
According to court documents Maisha needs care and assistance with all daily tasks, day and night. She is in a wheelchair and has lost the vast majority of her bodily and cognitive abilities. She suffers from painful leg spasms.
The claim was due to go to trial next month to decide how much compensation Maisha should receive. But at a meeting between the parties, Maisha's lawyers reached an agreement with Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The agreed settlement was for an upfront lump sum payment of £2.8 million, and in addition £383,000.00 per year until Maisha is aged 19. This will then increase to £423,000.00 per year for as long as she lives.
This agreement was approved by the Royal Courts of Justice in London on 27 January 2014. The payments are based upon experts' assessments of Maisha's needs, and will be spent on her care and accommodation.
According to court documents a central issue in the case was the impact that the brain injury and the pre-existing AVM would have on her life expectancy. The parties were not able to reach agreement about this. The life expectancy put forward by the expert for Maisha was 64 years, whereas the defendant's estimated life expectancy was to only age 23. The level of the overall lifetime payment depends on how long she lives as payments will be made yearly.
Edwina Rawson the solicitor said:
"What is so heart-breaking about this case is that the injury was so avoidable. If the syringes had been marked-up so the hospital could see which contained glue and which contained dye, then Maisha would not have suffered what is an utterly devastating brain injury. Such easily avoidable mistakes should not happen."
Sadir Hussain, Maisha's father said:
"We are sad and devastated by what happened to our daughter. Her life is ruined. All her dreams have been broken. I hope that by bringing this case, lessons will have been learned to avoid this happening to other families. We are grateful that agreement has been reached with Great Ormond Street to ensure that Maisha's care needs are met."
Read more about Maisha's case on the Field Fisher Waterhouse Medical Negligence website.
Case Title - Najeeb v Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust
Case Ref - TLQ/12/0817
Sunpreet Chana, Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP - Personal Injury & Medical Negligence Practice, http://www.ffw.com/personalinjury, +44 20 7861 4953, [email protected]
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