O'Driscoll v Dudley Health Authority

[1998] LS Law Med 210

COURT OF APPEAL

Lord Justice Simon BROWN, Lord Justice Otton, and Sir Christopher SLADE

Limitation — Knowledge — Attributable — Cerebral palsy — Action alleging negligent mismanagement of birth commenced over 23 years after plaintiff's birth — Plaintiff profoundly physically handicapped from birth and dependant on assistance and advice of parents — Parents alerted by television programme but deciding to leave claim until plaintiff aged 21 (mistakenly believed to be age of majority) — Whether delay unreasonable — Degree of knowledge required of act or omission constituting negligence in medical case of some complexity — Whether defendants had established that plaintiff had actual knowledge at any time before seeing her expert's report — Whether knowledge that injury could be attributed to hypoxia was knowledge that injury was “attributable” to act or omission alleged to constitute negligence — Whether constructive knowledge on plaintiff's part had been established — Whether discretion under sect 33 could be exercised in plaintiff's favour by Court of Appeal