Compensation after birth injury must be calculated based on the level of expenditures in the USA
Supreme Court judgment 8 June 2022, HR-2022-1132-A, (case no. 21-000081SIV-HRET), civil case, appeal against judgment.
A represented by guardian (Counsel Linda Egeland, assisting counsel Carl Aasland Jerstad) v. The State represented by Patients' Injury Compensation Board (Counsel Svein Åge Bergset)
A child had sustained serious brain damage during delivery at a Norwegian hospital. The parents, who had met each other in the USA, came to Norway a couple of months before the delivery and moved back to the USA shortly after. The Supreme Court found, unlike the lower instances, that the compensation for medical and socio-medical costs had to be calculated based on the level of expenditure in the USA, and that no regard should be had to the welfare benefits the child would have received if the family had stayed in Norway. Emphasis was placed on the seriousness of the child's brain damage, the family's affiliation with the USA and strong humanitarian considerations. The Court of Appeal's judgment was set aside.
Area of law: Tort law
Key paragraphs: 38, 44, 59−60, 68
Justices: Noer, Kallerud, Bergsjø, Berglund, Sæther