Family of chickenpox victim seek clinical negligence compensation

Posted 19/05/2010

The family of a little girl who was left disabled after contracting chickenpox have said they intend to seek clinical negligence compensation.

Clarice Louise Wright, then 11 months old, caught the virus which leads to the condition, but it developed into a “bacterial super-infection”, the Sunday Sun reports.

Now 13, she has been left with one leg significantly shorter than the other because doctors had to remove some of the bone to save her limb.

This has affected her mobility and future career prospects and her mother Demelza Wright said she will sue the Cambridge Medical Group as a result.

She and other members of the family maintain that doctors there should have noticed the severity of Clarice’s infection before it entered her bones and could have prevented her disabilities.

“I asked for a home visit. The response was ‘Give the child Calpol’. We didn’t need Calpol, we needed help,” said Clarice’s grandmother Yvonne Cooper.

The Cambridge Medical Group denies liability in the case.

According to the NHS, chickenpox is usually a mild but highly-infections condition which some 90 per cent of people contract during childhood.

Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, who heads the Medical Negligence team at Ashtons Legal, adds: “Whilst for the majority of children and adults chickenpox is not a seriously threatening condition, exposure to the viruses can have catastrophic consequences.

“In a case we recently settled, a child suffered significant developmental and behavioural issues as well as being left virtually blind. He requires 24-hour care and supervision and will never live independently. The case settled for in excess of £5 million which is an indication of the severity of the child’s needs.”