A record compensation for a medical error has been paid in Russia

A medical error during childbirth occurred at the cost of the child’s life and grave health damage to the child’s mother. Pursuant to the court’s judgment, the respondent compensated the moral damages for 15 million roubles, which is a record for Russia.

The I.S.Pavlov Saint Petersburg State University paid 15 million roubles in compensation of the moral damages to Irina Razina, who had suffered from the medics’ actions. This was what I.Razina’s attorney from S&K Vertical Liubov Duyko told RBC. The patient suffered grave health damage and her child – irreparable brain damage due to the incorrect tactics of childbirth in September of 2010. The child died two years later.

I.Razina sued the medics. Rosgosstrakh Medicine in Saint Petersburg and the Federal Service of Supervision in the area of health in Saint Petersburg and the Leningradskaya Region confirmed that the incorrect actions of the medics had caused damage to the woman in childbirth and the subsequent death of the child. The Primorsky District Court of Saint Petersburg upheld the victim’s claim and ruled to exact 15 million roubles in compensation of moral damages from the I.S.Pavlov Saint Petersburg State University on July 20 of 2014. The expert’s study expenses and maintenance of the claimant’s heath cost another 292 thousand roubles.

L.Duyko points out: “The courts rarely uphold the victims’ claims in full”.

Alexander Bolomatov, Partner of Law Firm "YUST", says that this amount, which was successfully adjudged for the medics’ incorrect actions, is unprecedented. According to him, the average amount awarded by the judges as compensation for moral damages is 300 to 400 thousand roubles, rising as high as 1 million if the errors cause the patient’s death.

See the RBC website for more details