7 News Belize

CCJ Upholds Malpractice Award for Janae
posted (April 10, 2014)
The biggest medical malpractice award in Belize's history has been upheld by the Caribbean Court of Justice. That's the decision that the court handed down this morning via teleconference. The panel of judges found that 2.3 million dollars must be paid to Janae Matute, and a little over half a million dollars must be paid to her mother, Georgia.

13 year-old Janae, who suffers from Cerebral Palsy, has been featured in our newscast many times; she is the child who was born premature, and due to post-natal complications, she was left with the disorder, which makes her life a constant struggle.

The doctor, Raji Meenvalli, who the family sued for malpractice in the Supreme Court, challenged it in the Court of Appeal - and when he failed there, took his case to the highest court in the land, the Carribean Court of Justice. That was head in February of this year. But in the end, he lost, and after the decision was handed down today, we got a brief reaction from his attorney, Godfrey Smith:

An executive summary of the Judgment from the CCJ says that the court, "rejected Dr Raju's submission that no standard of care was established as he was not only in breach of the common standard of care applicable to medical practitioners but also of the standard of care applicable to specialists in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology."

Janae's mom, Georgia Matute told us this evening, that she is very excited and this is something for which they have long been waiting for. She says God has given them justice and she hopes they can now meet the special needs that Janay has.

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