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Main view of the Supreme Court in Madrid. EFE
Spain's Supreme Court orders Sanitas to pay 3 million euros for serious medical negligence of a baby
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Spain's Supreme Court orders Sanitas to pay 3 million euros for serious medical negligence of a baby

The judgement raises the amounts originally set by previous court hearings for this case of medical complications during a birth at Dexeus hospital in Barcelona some 20 years ago that left the child 94% disabled

Mateo Balín

Madrid

Thursday, 17 April 2025, 14:04

The Supreme Court has ordered the private, healthcare group Sanitas SA to pay 3,055,797 euros in damages to a mother for medical negligence over a birth that took place in April 2005 that caused irreversible, neurological injuries to the baby, leaving the young person with a degree of disability rated at 94% in 2019.

The civil chamber within the Supreme Court partially upheld the woman's appeal, acting on behalf of herself and her son, and raised the amount of compensation from the 2.2 million euros set by Madrid's provincial court to the current three million euros.

With regard to interest owed, the Supreme Court upholds that the interest provided for in article 20 of Spain's insurance contract law should be applied from 27 December 2012 - the date when the first legal action was filed - and not from the date of birth as the mother requested, as it has not been proven that the insurer had knowledge of any claim prior to this time.

The procedure centred on the setting of the amount of compensation alone since the declaration of Sanitas' liability "for the deficient healthcare" provided at Dexeus Hospital in Barcelona and the causal relationship between this action and the harm inflicted had already been established by the 2016 ruling in Madrid. As the lawsuit was originally filed in Madrid, the appeal fell under the same jurisdiction.

Thus, it was established that it took nine hours to extract the foetus following the first ultrasound scan that alerted the medical team to the presence of a placental haematoma.

Complications then arose during delivery which led to extreme and sustained hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain) in the baby.

This caused irreversible neurological damage to the newborn, including cerebral palsy, developmental delay, severe binocular visual acuity loss, epileptic seizures plus severe and multiple motor, cognitive and sensory disabilities.

Damages and the cost of care

After obtaining a final judgement in her favour in 2016 in the lawsuit against Sanitas, which acknowledged the deficient care provided, the mother brought an action against the private healthcare company for damages of 5.1 million euros.

Sanitas, however, set the amount at 1,531,138 euros. However, the first instance court hearing in Madrid partially upheld the mother's claim and set compensation at 1,934,184 euros.

Both parties lodged an appeal against that legal decision. Madrid's provincial high court dismissed Sanitas' appeal, but partially upheld the mother's appeal, raising the compensation amount to 2,206,059 euros.

Yet the case dragged on to the Supreme Court, which has now partially upheld the claimant's appeal, increasing the amount of compensation to 3,055,797 euros.

The judges recognised that the mother is entitled to compensation for items that the previous court hearings did not agree on, also for increasing the amount of some of the items already covered such as rehabilitation costs, adapting the home to the young man's needs or paying for the help of third parties.

The ruling, delivered by judge Manuel Almenar, has used as a guideline the traffic accident scale of damages that were in effect on the date the injuries stabilised. This guideline enabled the judges to set the final compensation to be awarded some 20 years after this case of serious, medical negligence occurred.

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