The damages claim of a seven-year-old boy who developed cerebral palsy after state medical staff at the Mowbray Maternity Hospital failed to diagnose that he had jaundice at birth, is set to be finalised, according to a Weekend Argus report. It notes the Western Cape High Court has handed down a judgment in which it determined the boy’s life expectancy and found his expected age of death was 55. The parties’ lawyers and the Centre for Child Law spent 45 days thrashing out the issues before Judge Owen Rogers.

The claims include medical expenses, home modifications, a care-giver, a case manager and other claims to help him cope with his condition. Rogers pointed out in his judgment: ‘Money cannot compensate IDT (the child) for everything he has lost. It does, however, have the power to enable those caring for him to try things which may alleviate his pain and suffering and to provide him with some pleasures in substitution for those which are now closed to him.

These might include certain of the treatments which I have not felt able to allow as quantifiable future medical costs.’ Rogers ordered the MEC to pay general damages of R1.8m. He also gave the parties a month to file a document setting out the agreed or disputed actuarial calculations of lump sums for IDT’s future medical and related expenses and loss of earnings.

Full Weekend Argus report