Val-d’Oise: increased sentence for the hospital after a nightmarish birth 25 years ago

On September 10, 1998, during a childbirth, a dystocia of the shoulders – that is to say the absence of release of the shoulders of the fetus after expulsion of the head – had forced the medical staff of the Eaubonne – Montmorency hospital, in Val-d’Oise, to carry out a maneuver to free the little girl.

This young woman, now 25 years old, had however been exposed to anoxic ischemia, a form ofasphyxia which had led to “severe cerebral palsy”.

More than 5 million euros claimed

She and her parents, who live in Saint-Prix, therefore appealed to the administrative court of Cergy-Pontoise so that the maternity hospital is ordered to pay them nearly 5.3 million euros in compensation for his “mistakes”, not to mention “an annual annuity” for their future expenses.

Initially, the administrative court of Cergy-Pontoise had awarded €348,900 to the young woman in addition to compensation for her “academic harm” and her “loss of income” over this same period, as well as two pensions for “his future needs for assistance” and “his future loss of income”.

His parents were granted more than €19,000 for “past costs of adapting their accommodation”, their “travel costs” – in particular travel between the Necker hospital in 15^e arrondissement of Paris and Saint-Prix – and for their “exceptional extra-patrimonial damage”.

The couple appealed: they requested a expertise to assess the “new damages” of his daughter and, failing that, the payment of €387,000 in addition to 4.8 million euros for “assistance by a third party” and €433,000 for “the patrimonial share of educational and professional impact” and €95,500 for the costs of adapting their accommodation.

Call and expertise

According to them, the ” damage invoked” had been “revealed in their full extent” after the first judgment, since their daughter’s state of health had “worsened” since she came of age, with the development of a “depressive pathology”: the sums allocated by the first judges were therefore “insufficient”.

From now on, they also had to “provide financing for a three-room apartment” necessary for the young woman to live alone, “with the help of a third person”.

“She is not intended to live her entire life with her parents. »

They also wanted to be reimbursed for the “thermal treatment stays” medically prescribed for their daughter.

Her ” permanent functional deficit » is now assessed at 85% by the expert due to “very reduced autonomy and motor skills”.

“The person concerned presents the general appearance of a child without autonomy, moving around in a wheelchair with abnormal movements and permanent cries,” he wrote in 2017.

However, “the state of health (…) is consolidated and (…) is no longer susceptible to modification”, notes the administrative court of appeal of Versailles in a judgment dated March 26, 2024 which has just been rendered audience.

“Unable to put food in his mouth”

Her parents do not “usefully” refute these findings by producing photos of their daughter: the “two medical certificates” transmitted are “not detailed” and indicate “tersely” that her state of health “has been worsening since 2018” , without however “indicating the signs of this worsening”.

“The young woman needs active assistance when getting up and going to bed, when washing herself and during meals because she is unable to put food in her mouth. »

For the remaining hours, she must also be monitored because “she can move slightly” but “with serious risk of falling” and she is prone to “epileptic seizures”.

The young woman had in fact been “partially taken care of” by a specialized reception center, in Domont, between September 11, 2016 and November 6, 2019: since then, she has been “fully taken care of at her parents’ home “.

“As a result, the Eaubonne-Montmorency hospital group will have to pay Ms.

The young woman, who has “never been to school” and will never be able to exercise professional activity, is also “justified in claiming the loss of income (…) and pension rights” corresponding, in total, to €48,500 for the period between September 2016 and March 2024.

Thermal treatments not reimbursed

The judges also awarded him €8,000 for the “suffering endured”, and the same sums for her “aesthetic damage” and her “sexual damage” since she “will probably not have any sexual activity throughout her life”, they are convinced.

On the other hand, the magistrates refused to order the hospital to cover the costs of the spa treatments since it did not establish that these treatments were “medically prescribed” for it.

The public hospital will also not have to pay for the purchase of a three-room apartment in Saint-Prix: “given her degree of autonomy, Mrs. X. will probably never be able to live alone,” justify the magistrates.

In any case, “the purchase of an apartment so that she can establish herself alone is not linked to the fault of the hospital group”.

The need for an additional room does indeed arise from the “fault” of the hospital group, but this prejudice is however “not constituted” until the young woman has “bought an apartment”.

The young woman today retains “very limited motor skills” which allows “sitting alone” as well as “unbalanced and limited walking with frequent risks of falling”.

She also suffers from a “ profound mental retardation” , of ” visual impairment » and has “no articulate language”: her autonomy is therefore “zero”, according to the judges, since she can “neither dress herself, nor eat, nor wash herself or take her medicine”.

Past or future harm

His permanent functional deficit will therefore be compensated at €136,000.

In total, the Versailles administrative court of appeal therefore increased the hospital group’s sentence to €514,000 in compensation for “all of its past or current damages”.

For his “future losses”, two quarterly pensions will have to be paid by the hospital. His parents will receive €11,400 for their “housing costs (…) and (…) travel” as well as €9,000 for their “disorders in their living conditions”. The hospital will finally have to pay them €2,000 for their legal costs.

CB (PressPepper)

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