£11 million settlement secured after failure to diagnose a spinal cyst caused lifelong mobility issues.
Paul Rumley secured a settlement of £6,750,000.00 + annual periodical payments of £81,250.00-£185,000.00 for life for an 18-year-old (at the time of the settlement) woman for the physical and psychological damage she sustained in 2006 following a failure to diagnose and rectify a spinal dermoid sinus (a tubular skin defect caused by incomplete separation of the skin and the nervous system during development).
As a result of the sinus, at the age of eight months our client became infected with E-Coli and contracted serial poststreptococcal meningitis. Our client developed a fluid collection as well as a subdural empyema (an infection) and underwent a surgical procedure to drain the fluid and infected tissue.
At the age of 11 months, our client deteriorated further and suffered a loss of power in her legs and the early consequences of bowel and bladder dysfunction. It was subsequently discovered that she had developed an abscess on her spinal cord. In March 2007, our client underwent a procedure to drain and remove the abscess.
The impact on our client.
As a result of the failures to treat our client’s spinal dermoid sinus, she has been left with incontinence and flaccid paralysis of her lower limbs. She has had to undergo orthopaedic surgery and is reliant on foot splints to achieve stability when standing and mobilising.
Our client can walk for short distances, but she struggles to go up and down stairs and requires a wheelchair for more extensive distances out of doors and over uneven ground. As a result of her physical injuries, our client has also developed a series of psychological conditions including general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
How RWK Goodman helped.
With the assistance of RWK Goodman’s Paul Rumley, our client alleged that if the treating doctors had exercised reasonable skill and care in diagnosing and treating the spinal dermoid sinus, our client’s injuries would have been avoided.
In February 2012, the defendant Trusts admitted to negligently failing to diagnose and treat the spinal dermoid sinus. Judgement on liability was entered in favour of our client, and the court ordered a “stay” in the case, to allow our client to reach maturity so that her damages could be fully assessed. The “stay” was lifted in early 2022.
After difficult negotiations with the defendant Solicitors, on 5 September 2024 settlement was reached under the following terms:
- Gross lump sum of £6,750,000.00;
- Periodical payments of £81,250.00 annually from December 2025 until December 2027;
- Periodical payments of £73,000.00 annually from December 2027 until December 2041;
- Periodical payments of £75,000.00 annually from 15 December 2041 until December 2056;
- Periodical payments of £102,500.00 annually from December 2056 until December 2067;
- Periodical payments of £185,000.00 annually from December 2067 for life.
It is estimated that by persisting with negotiations between March 2024 and September 2024, our team managed to increase the total settlement by approximately £500,000.00. Total settlement over estimated lifetime totalled £11 million.
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