The case was uncovered in 2021 following the publication of information in the La Rioja newspaper, which aroused enormous interest in the special circumstances surrounding these two women, who when born in 2002 in the old San Millán hospital in the capital of La Rioja, were exchanged by mistake and given to families that did not belong to them. Since that day, the identity of neither of the two victims has not been revealed, despite many attempts, and the only news about the case is known through the different court resolutions. The last of them concerns the ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of La Rioja (TSJR), which has partially upheld the appeal presented by one of those affected and raised the compensation to 975,000 euros.
The ruling of the Administrative Litigation Chamber annuls the agreement of the Government Council of La Rioja of 2022, which established , which has been taken over by the insurance company of the Rioja Health Service (SERIS). The appellant claimed an amount of 3,005,060 euros for “irreparable damages,” according to what her lawyer, José Sáez Morga, stated at the time. However, the sentence is not final and an appeal is possible before the Supreme Court.
The ruling assumes the criteria established by the Rioja Administration to set the initial compensation. In this way, it estimates the moral damage caused to the minor by the time elapsed without living with the biological family and also the damage suffered upon learning of her mistake of parentage. However, it is also argued that “additional circumstances” exist to increase the amount of the initial compensation.
In this way, the sentence takes into account that the affected person after knowing her true affiliation, since she had died in 2018, before this procedure began. Furthermore, the situation of helplessness when he was a minor is valued, since it was the one he considered his grandmother who was in charge of his care, as legal guardian, due to the disability of his non-biological parents. All of this makes the moral damage “greater,” says the ruling, which is why the initial compensation is increased by 125,000 euros, which the insurer must also take care of.
The other exchanged baby has also filed a claim with the court in which she demands, an amount to which 1.3 million euros are added for her non-biological parents.
