Case Studies

A Child’s Death

In 2001 Michael and Nelly* had a baby at The Royal Women’s Hospital. They released Nelly and her child at about 8pm that evening but the baby had jaundice. The hospital said that if there were any problems to come back. The parents took the child back early the next morning because the baby was ill.

 

They waited 4 hours in the waiting room, and no one helped them, and the baby died in her mother’s arms. The findings of the coroner ruled that the baby died of natural causes.

 

In 2003 Gus Elbelah met Michael by accident and he told him his story. It turned out that they had a lawyer, but the lawyer was not accredited to handle these kinds of compensation cases, so he didn’t know that they only had a restricted time (3 days) to take the necessary legal proceedings to claim against the hospital for the pain and sufferance he and his wife had had to experience. If these 3 days had expired they would’ve had no claim at all.

 

Gus quickly referred them to an accredited lawyer, who took the necessary legal steps to protect the parents’ interests.

 

Gus and the lawyer then took the case back to the coroner’s court and requested an inquest. He then attended with the family on several occasions during the proceedings for moral support.

 

The coroner reversed his decision and found the hospital negligent as a result. The case was settled in 2008, when Nelly was awarded $498,000 compensation for pain and sufferance, and Michael was awarded $650,000 in compensation for pain and sufferance, and loss of earnings.

 

*The real names of those concerned have been changed to protect their privacy.