LORD BRIDGE OF HARWICH My Lords,
The infant plaintiff was born nearly three months prematurely on 15 December 1978. He weighed only 1200grammes. In the first few weeks of life he suffered from most of the afflictions which beset premature babies. He passed through a series of crises and very nearly died. The greatest danger which faces the very premature baby, on account of the imperfect function of incompletely developed lungs, is death or brain damagefrom failure of the oxygen supply to the brain. That Martin not only survived but also now retains unimpaired brain function is due both to the remarkable advances of medical science and technology in this field in comparatively recent years and to the treatment he received in the special baby care unit of the Princess Alexandra hospital, Harlow.
Tragically, however, he succumbed to another well-knownhazard of prematurity. He suffers from retro lental fibro plasia (RLF), an incurable condition of the retina which, in his case, hascaused t…