Parents win EUR 616,000 damages from hospital

18 March 2008

ALGECIRAS – A couple has been awarded compensation of EUR 616,287 after poor hospital care during the birth of their son in 1985 left the child with severe disabilities.

The lack of treatment that María Córdoba Rodríguez received when she gave birth to her first son in a hospital in Algeciras, Cádiz, contributed to his cerebral palsy and developmental disability. Despite her pregnancy being high risk – with a term of 43 weeks – María was not given suitable attention, with no monitoring nor an examination of the foetus or the amniotic fluid.

Judicial proceedings against the Andalusian Health Service were only begun in 2002, when a lawyer from the Association of Victims of Hospital Negligence took on the case. Before then, none of the lawyers approached by the couple in Algeciras or Málaga were willing to go to court.