The patient, who died a few months ago, was left in a wheelchair with a disability of 76%

The Criminal Court No. 1 of Terrassa has sentenced María JAM, a pediatrician at a local primary care center, to one year and nine months in prison for negligent injury. The sentence, to which this media outlet has had access, indicates that the convicted woman treated MM from her birth in 1997 until 2012. In 2009, the child began experiencing speech and walking difficulties, vomiting, headaches, and dizziness, leading the family to worry and ask the doctor if she might have a neurological condition.

However, the pediatrician did not consider it necessary to order more specific tests to determine the origin of the ailments and advised the family to enroll the child in psychomotor activities such as hip-hop. In July 2012, the patient was seen in the emergency room at the Dexeus Clinic and after a cranial CT scan, a brain tumor was found.

The judge considers that the pediatrician, despite the symptoms presented by the minor, during the times she visited her over 3 years, "did not use the available means (radiological images, CT scan, MRI, etc.) nor did she refer the minor to neuropediatrics, all of which is necessary and essential for a correct diagnostic assessment. As a consequence of this omission by the accused, there was an inexcusable omission and delay in the urgent surgical intervention that the patient required."

Therefore, the ruling states that, as a consequence of the time elapsed between the first symptoms of the tumor and its diagnosis, the minor suffered serious consequences that left her wheelchair-bound with a 76% disability rating, difficulty speaking, double vision, right facial paralysis, and other health problems. The various surgeries failed to completely remove the tumor. A few months ago, the minor died as a result of this condition. In addition to the prison sentence, the court imposed a two-and-a-half-year ban on the doctor practicing medicine.

During the lengthy legal process, the family and their lawyer launched an online petition campaign to request compensation from the insurance company covering the doctor's professional liability, so that "our daughter could receive all the care" she needed. In just a few days, they gathered approximately [number of signatures]. 100,000 supporters and the campaign closed with more than 233,000 signatures.

“We demand that they stop seeing us as an expense in their bulging profit account, earned by collecting on all our policies, and at the very least agree to meet with us,” the family pleaded in their campaign against the insurance company and the Catalan Health Service, as they wanted to avoid the trial at all costs. Finally, shortly before the hearing, the family, represented by the lawyer Borja Masramon, reached an agreement with the company and received more than one million euros in compensation.

Masramon stated that "this case, in which a young woman with her whole life ahead of her died, marked me forever. We endured an unequal struggle with the family until the very end, and we obtained one of the highest compensations ever awarded in Spain for medical negligence. It is appalling that when such clear and evident medical negligence occurs, the Social Security system has no established recourse other than a lawsuit against the insurance companies."

Furthermore, he added that "the ruling should encourage people who have suffered medical negligence to file claims. Sometimes they think it's not possible to demand compensation or damages for medical malpractice, and this case shows that there is hope."