The Supreme Court has ruled a Dublin couple is not entitled to damages from the National Maternity Hospital for nervous shock over the retention of some of the organs of their stillborn daughter.
However, the court refused the hospital's application to award costs against the couple ordered the two side to pay their own costs.
Bridget and Terence Devlin, of Ballyogan Crescent, Carrickmines, took the case had claimed the organs of their child Laura, who was stillborn at Holles Street on May 30th, 1988, were retained without their knowledge after a post-mortem to which, they claimed, they had not consented.
The Devlins initiated their proceedings in July 2002.
The hospital disputed the claim and argued there were no consent forms for autopsies on stillborn children in 1988. It also said Mrs Devlin did consent to the postmortem and that it was general practice within hospitals at the time not to discuss the retention of organs with parents.
In July 2004, the High Court ruled the Devlins had not established a cause of action against the hospital and awarded costs against them.
In its ruling today, the Supreme Court accepted that, on learning in 2000 that the child's organs had been retained in 1988, Ms Devlin suffered shock and post-tramatic stress which was induced by the information about retention of the organs.
However, because the nervous shock sustained was not as a result of actual or physical injury to Mrs Devlin or any other person, the court ruled Ms Devlin was not entitled to sue for damages.
It noted grief or sorrow was not a basis to recover damages and also upheld the High Court's decision that Mr Devlin had not proved any injury or loss to himself as a result of the organ retention.