Baby Left in Permanent Vegetative State Following Dislodgement of Endotracheal Tube

Sally was in the critical care unit at a hospital following the birth of her first child and was intubated and ventilated. Whilst she was being moved, her endotracheal tube became dislodged and by the time this was re-inserted she had suffered a hypoxic brain injury (because of a lack of oxygen). This tragically resulted in Sally being in a persistent vegetative state. It was a devastating tragedy for Sally’s husband and their newly born son. 

Our Investigation 

Our brain injury specialist lawyers investigated the case, and it became apparent that Sally was moved by just two nurses when her endotracheal tube became dislodged. The nurses had made the decision that they would be able to move Sally safely without a third nurse, despite the fact that there was no one holding the endotracheal tube, as there should have been. 

The hospital carried out a serious untoward incident investigation. This raised further problems with delays in an ICU anaesthetist being summoned and re-intubating Sally as well as equipment not working properly. Their investigation also concluded there was no training in place for maintaining the airway when moving an intubated patient. 

The Hospital subsequently admitted fault in response to the allegations of negligence that our team put forward. They formally apologised to Sally and her family for the devastating consequences of this error. 

Compensation 

Sally and her family secured a substantial compensation payment. This enabled Sally to move into a Rehabilitation Nursing Home and her husband and son to move close by to be able to regularly see Sally. The compensation was also for the cost of replacing the services that Sally would have provided to her son and her husband had she not been so severely injured at the Hospital. 

Note: Our client’s name has been changed to protect her confidentiality. 

What the family say about our team: 

“I wish to express my sincere thanks to Sahida and the team at Minton Morrill. I have received efficient, appropriate and clear legal advice throughout the process. I am pleased with everything, from the first meeting to conclusion. I was well-informed of every step, either by telephone, email or letter. Remarkably, I was very happy with the experts Sahida had introduced to me. Sahida is very accessible, friendly, available, timely, always responsive and has an amazing ability to achieve the best outcome by acting in the client’s best interest. I recommend Minton Morrill to every one."