€22.5m settlement for boy with brain damage

Yellow_Fern

Feisar wrote: »

It is not like a object was destroyed and here's the monetary value of it. One cannot compensate for wrecking someones life and also their parents lives. I have a toddler running around here and I could not attempt to put a value on his health.

Feisar wrote: »

As for the parents "netting" a couple of million should the lad not live very long??? People must lack an understanding of the parent/child bond. We are talking about people who would gladly give the lad their last pint of blood if it would cure him.

I agree that you cant put a price on your child's life, which is why I dont believe in paying money beyond costs of the injury (medical bills, lost income etc). Perhaps I am mistaken but you seem to believe life is also priceless but that they should put a price on it.

ohnonotgmail

Nermal wrote: »

It's implied by the amount awarded by the courts and average life expectancy.

the award is not the value of a life. it is the cost of caring for that life.

Feisar

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

I agree that you cant put a price on your child's life, which is why I dont believe in paying money beyond costs of the injury (medical bills, lost income etc). Perhaps I am mistaken but you seem to believe life is also priceless but that they should put a price on it.

I suppose I sort of contradicted myself! While a child's life is priceless to the parents the State needs to proffer some sort of financial reparation. Aside for the medical costs are the parents not entitled to something for the mental torture?

SEPT 23 1989

no amount of money will take away the constant worry and fear they will have for their son for the rest of their lives

they would live penny less in a ditch just to have their boy right

ohnonotgmail

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

no amount of money will take away the constant worry and fear they will have for their son for the rest of their lives

they would live penny less in a ditch just to have their boy right

not forgetting the worry and fear they will have about the possibility of them passing before him.

Galwayguy35

lawrencesummers wrote: »

Does that 22 million come out of the medical budget this year?

How many cut backs will there be this year because of that money not being available, or how much better a health system would it be with an additional 22 million. How many nurses and doctors does 22 million pay for?

How many settlements were made 8 years ago that reduced the ability of the HSE to be adequately staffed when that child was born?

The parents are entitled to an apology, the child is entitled to have his needs met because of that error.

There is barely a week that goes by Without hearing about someone getting a huge settlement from the HSE. Have we reached a situation yet where the annual claims equal the actual HSE budget? Somebody needs to look at the total amount of compensation the HSE has had to pay out and make those figures public.

it would get you to thinking how much better a system that would create situations like this less frequently if that money was actually spent within the system.

A vicious circle me thinks.


And special mention to the legal profession. Who no doubt took a massive chunk and made the parents wait 8 years for this. What a shower of parasites the legal profession are.

The yearly health spend is about 18 billion, do you not think thats enough for the HSE to get to run the health service.

Considering the hundreds of millions that were spent on tribunals over the years that achieved nothing at the end of them I wouldn't begrudge this family the money to make life a bit easier for them.

Augme

Augme wrote: »

Yea, because obviously if the kid dies early in life it will have been no fault of the HSE so the parents should be forced to give the money back as they haven't suffered at all in that scenario....

You have to work on your phrasing chief.

McCrack

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

I agree that you cant put a price on your child's life, which is why I dont believe in paying money beyond costs of the injury (medical bills, lost income etc). Perhaps I am mistaken but you seem to believe life is also priceless but that they should put a price on it.

This settlement is precisely that, money to pay for the childs round the clock care for the rest of his natural life, there is no lottery there are no winners here. Expert care costs were obtained and actuarialised

OscarMIlde

Geuze wrote: »

Another point - given that social care is available from the HSE, financed by taxes, why the need for the award?

I think I know the answer, but would like it confirmed.


It is that Judges have agreed that private care is allowed in the award, so the award must be big enough to pay for private social care.

There won't necessarily be social care for him. Services for the disabled are severely lacking in this country. I have a non-verbal severely autistic brother and he lost his service at 18 as he was legally an adult, despite the fact he required constant supervision. It wasn't until we got to court (which took about eight years since our solicitor took the case if I recall) that he was given a new service. By this stage my brother was in his thirties.

jmlad2020

Geuze wrote: »

Surely the HSE will be paying for social care anyways?

You would be surprised what the HSE aren't paying for. They have their heads up their own arses half the time.