A 17-year-old will receive a $7 million settlement from the Canberra Hospital as part of a medical negligence case over his diagnosis and treatment for pneumococcal meningitis and septicaemia when he was just three months old.
The settlement had to be signed off by the ACT Supreme Court today because the 17-year-old boy is still a child.
Associate Justice Verity McWilliam noted the case had been a long time coming.
"The harrowing events giving rise to the litigation occurred in 2006," Associate Justice McWilliam said.
The boy was only a baby when he was brought into the hospital with the illness.
No details were given about how he had been affected, other than that it had changed "his life course".
The hospital admitted a failure in its duty of care in regard to certain issues but denied overall liability.
In the end, after numerous medical reports, a compromise was reached between the family and the hospital, to arrive at the figure of $7,350,000.
The issue for the court was to decide if that amount was in the interests of the boy, and adequate in the circumstances.
Associate Justice McWilliam today agreed to the amount, noting the expense and stress of any hearing, which would have taken weeks.
"The plaintiff and his parents have been dealing with the consequences of the events in 2006 for 17 years," Associate Justice McWilliam said.
"They will continue to do so for the rest of the plaintiff's life and the quantum of the settlement reflects that reality.
"I am satisfied that the settlement of the case for the amount proposed is overwhelmingly in the plaintiff's interest."
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Canberra Health Services apologised to the boy and his family that his care at the hospital "was not the standard we would expect".
"We acknowledge the profound and lasting effect on their life and the hurt and pain this has caused. We hope that today's settlement in some way provides some closure," the spokeswoman said.
"Whilst adverse events regrettably occur from time to time, they represent a very small percentage of cases and every opportunity is taken to ensure system improvements can be identified and implemented.
"There has been considerable work undertaken across Canberra Health Services over the last decade to continually improve the quality of clinical services provided to our community. This includes ensuring robust procedures are in place to recognise and respond to early signs of patient deterioration and escalation protocols.
"The length of time taken for the settlement of matters such as this, is outside of the control of Canberra Health Services and depends on individual circumstances and court processes."
The way is now clear for the family to receive the money, after a legal battle that began in 2008.
