The family of a brain-dead pregnant woman who was kept on life support for almost four weeks owing to concerns about the Eighth Amendment are seeking some €3.3m damages from the HSE over her death.
The State Claims Agency, which is managing the case for the HSE, disputes the level of damages sought. More than €3.1m is for future costs of care and appropriate accommodation for 26-year-old Natasha Perie’s two young children, now aged 11 and nine, including the cost of full-time live-in nannies for both until they reach the age of 23, as well as education and counselling.
The remainder is for some €184,000 for Ms Perie’s father, Peter Perie, for loss of dependency. At the time of their mother’s death in late 2014, both children were living with her and widower Mr Perie (67), in his four-bedroom home where they were described as “happy and content”.
The children have different fathers and, after Ms Perie’s death, the children went to live with their respective fathers in accommodation not owned by the fathers. A hearing opened before Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy yesterday for assessment of damages after a mediation failed to secure agreement.
The family had last November received an apology from the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar, and the HSE over failings in Ms Perie’s care at the hospital in late 2014.
She was pronounced brain-dead days after her admission there on November 27, 2014 but was afterwards kept on life support, against the family’s wishes, because of doctors’ concerns about the implications of the Eighth Amendment, which has since been repealed.
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