THE FAMILY OF a four-year-old boy who has been awarded a €15 million settlement over catastrophic injuries he suffered during his birth at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin have issued a statement excoriating the HSE for how it handled the case.
Eoin, who has cerebral palsy and cannot walk or talk, also secured an apology from The Coombe over the hospital’s negligence during his birth.
Eoin’s father Anthony read a statement outside the High Court blasting the HSE for how it treated his family and other families in similar circumstances.
“As catastrophic as the outcome in out case is you can forgive a mistake. What is unforgivable is the way families are being treated after the event,” Anthony McCallig from Dunkineely, Co Donegal, said.
“Rather than trying their best to make things right and holding their hands up their and then the HSE seem determined to fight almost every case for years only to usually settle on the steps of the High Court for millions, normally without admission of liability,” he continued.
To me it is a crazy, unnecessary, practice and one that has to stop. Not only is it inhumane it is extremely unethical.
The HSE, the Coombe Hospital and the State Claims Agency have all refused to respond to Anthony McCallig’s comments.
