Injury Compensation News

A four year old child, who sustained a burn injury to his foot in a medical accident when he was just a few days old, has had a compensation settlement of 10,500 Euros approved in the Circuit Civil Court.

Fabien Napierski of Kinlough, County Leitrim, was just four days of age when the medical accident occurred at his home in 2007. A nurse, who was warming his foot prior to conducting a blood test, used water from a recently boiled kettle without first testing its heat.

Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Matthew Deery, heard that the Health Service Executive had agreed to pay Fabien 10,500 Euros in compensation for the medical accident without admission of liability and the case was before him for approval of the settlement.

After hearing the facts of the claim, and considering the amount of the award, Mr Justice Matthew Deery approved the settlement as was presented to him.

The Clinical Indemnity Scheme has been criticized in The Irish Times today for granting anonymity to medical professionals. The State Claims Agency has operated the Clinical Indemnity Scheme since 2002 for all medical malpractice cases taken against hospitals and doctors. The State Claims Agency ‘assumes responsibility for the vicarious negligence by act or omission on the part of doctors, nurses, midwives and allied healthcare professionals”

The State Claims Agency has advised solicitors that it is ‘neither necessary nor appropriate” to include the names of doctors in medical malpractice documentation.

This means that negligent doctors are effectively protected from public record unless the lawsuit is heard in the High Court.  The vast majority of medical malpractice cases, like most other types of personal injury cases, are settled prior to going to court .

This effectively means that medical professions are granted anonymity for their negligent actions.

The State Claims Agency, which oversees the clinical indemnity scheme on behalf of the healthcare system, has revealed that four hospital patients died between January 2004 and December 2010 after they were administered medication to which they had a known allergy.

Figures released earlier this year also showed that 35,310 incidents involving medication were recorded in the seven year period – a number of which led to patients becoming ill and having to be admitted to hospital intensive care units.

Although 95 per cent of these did not result in any patient harm, there were 124 medical negligence claims in Ireland solely attributable to adverse or allergic reactions to a known allergen, and the State Claims Agency has urged medical practitioners to ensure patients do not have an allergy before prescribing or administering treatment.

According to studies made on behalf of the State Claims Agency and Health Service Executive, the errors are occurring due to the complex way medicines are administered – with often a dozen steps being required before a single dose of medication is delivered to a patient.

However patient lobby groups claim that despite the acknowledgement of more than 5,000 medication errors each year, patient treatment incidents are under-reported in Ireland – a view shared by “Patient Focus”, who claim that the scale of the problem has not been accepted by the medical profession.

A member of a High Court working group, commissioned to investigate provision for the victims of catastrophic injury and chaired by Mr Justice John Quirke, has announced that the working group is considering the introduction of pre-action protocols to reduce the financial burden to the State of clinical negligence compensation claims.
Mr Michael Boylan was speaking in Dublin at a conference on catastrophic birth and child injuries organised by the charity “Action Against Medical Accidents”. He said that a legal “duty of candour” should be introduced to require medical practitioners to advise a patient as soon as they are aware that a clinical error as occurred.
Quoting from a Health Service Executive report, Mr Boylan stated that there was evidence to suggest that patients often forgave the clinical error when it is disclosed promptly, fully and compassionately, and not only would this action reduce the trauma and distress of patients and their families upon discovery, but also reduce the amount of legal costs arising from contested medical negligence actions.
The first proposal from the working group was contained in a report published in November 2010. The report recommended that people who sustain catastrophic injuries would benefit more from periodic compensation payments than one lump sum. Mr Boylan hoped that the report would be acted upon and legislation introduced, although he acknowledged that the overall cost to the State could be greater and feared that this might prevent it from being adopted into law.

A woman, who developed Wenicke Korsakoff psychosis after alleged negligence by her surgeon, has settled her claim for medical negligence for an undisclosed sum.
Avril Doyle (46), of Loughlinstown, County Dublin, was described to Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill at the High Court as a bubbly and vivacious person prior to undergoing a laparotomy to treat multiple abdominal adhesions at St Michael’s Hospital, Dún Laoghaire in July 2005.
Avril was discharged ten days after her operation, but had to re-admitted for further surgery on August 2 2005 after her condition deteriorated. Another laparotomy was performed, during which part of her small bowel had to be removed.
It was alleged that, during this procedure, medical staff failed to administer the vitamin thiamine as part of Avril’s intravenous feeding and she suffered brain damage as a result. It was claimed in the action brought through Avril’s husband, Dick, against the Health Service Executive and consultant surgeon Joseph Duignan, that staff failed in their duty to monitor, test and review her “total parental nutrition” management.
As a consequence of this alleged negligence, the court heard how Avril developed memory problems, became increasingly disorientated and suffered impairment to her cognitive linguistic function – a symptom commonly witnessed in cases of dementia.
After treatment at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, Avril returned home in April 2006 to be cared for by her husband and, more recently, by a specially employed care assistant. Avril continues to have problems with dizziness, fatigue, emotional fits and depression.
One week into the trial, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill was informed that the claim had been settled for an undisclosed figure and without admission of liability except for the failure to provide a nutritionist at the hospital during the surgery.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has issued a public apology in the High Court, to the family of a Garda sergeant who died after giving birth to twins at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, County Louth.
Tania McCabe (34) of Termonfeckin, County Louth, was admitted to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in March 2007, after her waters broke when only six months pregnant. Tania was attended to by consultant obstetrician, Shane Higgins, who discharged her after only one night’s observation.
Tania went into labour and was re-admitted to Our Lady of Lourdes the following day, where she underwent an emergency Caesarean section to deliver her twin boys. One of the twins, Zach, had severe congenital abnormalities and died in Tania’s arms shortly after his birth. It was then discovered that Tania had suffered a post-partum haemorrhage and, despite emergency surgery, Tania died the following day
In an action brought by Tania’s widower, Aidan (41), her eldest son Ben (6) and the surviving twin Adam (4), it was claimed that the HSE and Shane Higgins were negligent in failing to properly diagnose his wife’s waters had broken, wrongfully discharging her from hospital and not diagnosing she was in septic shock when readmitted.
Liability was admitted by the defendants, and the case was brought before Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill in the High Court for assessment of damages only.
Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill approved an undisclosed settlement for husband Aidan, in respect of mental distress, shock, loss, damages and expenses. The two boys had settlements approved for 200,000 Euros each, and Tania’s mother, Barbara Corcoran, also had an undisclosed sum approved for her claim of nervous shock.

The widow of a man who was administered the wrong drug to treat a case of poisoning, has had a compensation settlement of 1 million Euros approved in the High Court. Colm O’Donovan (31) of Dunmanway, County Cork, had become ill in August 2005 with suspected food poisoning, and his wife, Patricia, had called the South Doc out of hours medical service. The doctor with the service gave Colm an injection of Cyclamorah, but the following morning his condition had deteriorated. Colm collapsed as he tried to get out of bed and started to suffer seizures.
Patricia once again contacted South Doc medical service, and this time Colm was attended by Dr. Johan Dirk van der Meer. Dr. van der Meer diagnosed that Colm’s seizures were a reaction to the first drug and administered an injection of Largactyl – claiming that it would control the seizures. Instead, Colm’s condition continued to deteriorate and, shortly after being attended by his GP the following morning, suffered a heart attack and died.
It was claimed in the subsequent action against South West Doctors On Call Ltd, trading as South Doc, of St Finan’s Hospital, County Kerry and Dr. van der Meer that Dr. van der Meer had failed to conduct a full examination of Colm. This, it was alleged, would have revealed a serious illness for which Colm could have received treatment in hospital. It was also alleged that by administering the injection of Largactyl, Dr. van der Meer accelerated a serious illness which eventually lead to Colm’s death.
Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill heard in the High Court that liability had been admitted by Dr. van der Meer and the action against South Doc was struck out. Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill was also told that an agreement had been reached between Colm’s family and the negligent party for a compensation settlement of 1 million Euros, which he was satisfied to approve.

Soldiers, who suffered from the side effects of the anti-malaria drug Lariam, are seeking compensation from the State for neuropsychiatric side-effects, brain damage and motor-neurone disorders. The drug was given to Irish soldiers who were deployed in Chad and Liberia while serving with the UN, despite it being known to have serious side effects such as depression, anxiety and forgetfulness. It is also alleged in the claims filed against the State, that the soldiers were prescribed the drug even though their army medical files indicated that it was unsuitable for them.
Lariam is a trade name for mefloquine – a drug which is used to prevent and combat malaria in areas where mosquitoes have developed a resistance to the more commonly used chloroquine – and, as it needs to be administered only once a week, is preferred to alternative mefloquine anti malaria alternatives. However, the potential side effects are well chronicled.
In the United States, Lariam was banned for distribution amongst the Armed Forces in 2009 after it was linked with a series of suicides by Special Forces soldiers in 2002 and following a series of complaints from veterans who have suffered both psychological and physical side effects – which in numerous cases did not surface until many years later.
The Defence Forces have confirmed that ten serving soldiers are undergoing treatment for possible side effects of Lariam, but this could be just the tip of the iceberg, as several thousand Irish soldiers have served in the area in the past few years. Indeed, only last month, it was revealed that the Department of Defence had increased their compensation budget by almost 50% (to 6 million Euros) to allow for an anticipated increase in the number of claims from soldiers who had been administered Lariam.
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Five year old Kate Murphy of Fethard, County Tipperary is to receive an interim compensation payment of 1.3 million Euros after South Tipperary General Hospital admitted failings during her delivery process.
In an action brought through Kate’s mother, Sarah Murphy, against the Health Service Executive, South Tipperary General Hospital and Raymond Howard – a consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist attached to the hospital – Mr. Justice John Quirke heard at the High Court how alleged negligence and a breach of duty had left Kate with serious brain injuries.
No exact details of the events that occurred in September 2005 were revealed in court, as the hospital had already admitted liability and the case was before Mr. Justice John Quirke for the settlement to be approved. However, it was made clear that the consequences of the hospital’s alleged negligence left Kate suffering from cerebral palsy and requiring lifelong care.
Approving the compensation settlement, Mr. Justice John Quirke commented that the inclusion of 450,000 Euros for general damages was grossly inadequate and “nothing could compensate” for the trauma experienced by Kate and her family. He then adjourned the case for two years on the basis that there was an agreement in place that future care costs would be covered by a system of periodic payments, once new legislation to cover such cases had been introduced.

Thirty six year old Elaine Lennon was an award-winning opera singer, with a bright future ahead of her both as a singer and as a recently qualified psychologist. However, in February 2007, she started suffering headaches during the pregnancy of her daughter Claudia, and attended the accident and emergency unit of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, County Louth.
There, Mr. Justice John Quirk heard at the High Court, she was diagnosed by a medical registrar as suffering from a urinary tract infection and referred to a midwife, who assessed she was about to give birth and ordered that Elaine underwent a Caesarean section to deliver Claudia.
Claudia was born a healthy baby, but the headaches and neck stiffness continued and Elaine failed to respond to antibiotics. Doctors at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital twice queried whether a CT scan of her brain should be performed but none was done, and Elaine and her baby were discharged a week after the birth.
Had a CT scan of Elaine´s brain been carried out at the time, doctors would have noticed an abscess which later burst into the ventricles. Instead, she attended her GP´s clinic at Castle Mill Medical Centre, Balbriggan, where Dr. Patrick Mathuna administered an injection which temporarily stopped the headaches and vomiting which had developed.
Dr. Mathuna called on Elaine several days later, determined that she was suffering from post-natal depression and prescribed a sedative. Later that day, she collapsed at home and was admitted to Our Lady of Lourdes Accident and Emergency Department by ambulance. The following morning, Elaine suffered two seizures after which a CT scan was performed which revealed the extent of Elaine´s illness.
Suing the Health Service Executive and Dr. Mathuna through her father, the court heard how Elaine formerly of Newhaven Bay, Balbriggan, County Dublin, is now confined to a wheelchair and can only speak in a whisper. She also requires 24 hour care due to the doctors failing to notice her brain injury.
Approving an interim compensation settlement of 2.39 million Euros, Mr. Justice John Quirke said that, were it not for her injuries, Elaine had the potential to make a lot of money in the future. Both the HSE and Dr. Mathuna admitted liability.