<p>Woman</a> Who Contracted Encephalitis on School Trip Awarded $41.7M</p>
<p>That’s terrible! :eek:</p>
<p>That’s really an outlandish amount.</p>
<p>Saw this on Hotchkiss web site.</p>
<p>[The</a> Hotchkiss School - About Hotchkiss - News Detail](<a href=“http://www.hotchkiss.org/news/detail.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=5633&ModuleID=90&NEWSPID=1]The”>http://www.hotchkiss.org/news/detail.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=5633&ModuleID=90&NEWSPID=1)</p>
<p>Letter to the Hotchkiss Community
Posted March 29, 2013</p>
<p>Dear Friends,</p>
<p>I write to update you on an issue affecting The Hotchkiss School that is receiving significant public attention.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, the School was informed of a court decision that had been reached in a civil suit brought by the family of Cara Munn. Just before, and during, the March vacation, this matter went to trial in the Bridgeport Federal Court. The jury’s verdict ruled in favor of the plaintiff, and the family was awarded damages of $41.75 million.</p>
<p>The case is based on the following incident: At the end of her freshman year at Hotchkiss, Cara Munn went on a Hotchkiss trip to China in June and July of 2007. During the trip she became ill with a tick-borne form of encephalitis and continues to suffer the effects of this illness. According to the CDC, she was the first reported U.S. traveler to China to be diagnosed with TBE. It had not happened before the 2007 trip in question, and it has not happened since then.</p>
<p>As part of our due diligence prior to this trip, we checked the CDC website for medical advice and asked parents to do the same. We also requested that families seek advice from a travel medical specialist. There was no indication at all that this was a potential risk.</p>
<p>I would like to take this opportunity once again to assure the Hotchkiss community that our first commitment is, and has always been, to protect and care for our students. We take this duty extremely seriously.</p>
<p>We have been working closely with our insurance carrier. We have appropriate coverage for this matter. An appeal is being planned, and we are optimistic that further review of the facts will lead to a more favorable ruling.</p>
<p>Below is our official statement on the matter. You will see sections of it in some of the press reports.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Malcolm McKenzie
Head of School</p>
<p>“We care deeply about all our students. Our first commitment is to protect them, and we take this duty very seriously, whether they are at school or participating in an officially sponsored off-campus activity. As part of our due diligence prior to this 2007 trip to China, we thoroughly checked the CDC website for medical advice and asked parents to do the same. There was never any indication that there was a potential risk of a disabling tick bite. In fact, this is the only recorded case of this particular disease afflicting a traveler in China. We remain very saddened by this student’s illness, and we continue to hope for improvements to her health."</p>