Injury Compensation News

The Medical Council is investigating claims of doctor negligence against a Dublin GP who allegedly over-prescribed psychoactive benzodiazepines.

It is claimed that Dr Mohammed Ahmed Khan, who practices in Wicklow Street, Dublin, prescribed up to four times the recommended dosage of drugs such as Valium to patients suffering from anxiety and depression. The Medical Council are also looking into claims that Dr Khan failed to make adequate enquiries as to whether any of the patients he was prescribing these drugs to were already being treated by another doctor.

Dr Khan has also been accused of poor professional performance due to his alleged failure to refer patients with a dependency on benzodiazepines to drug treatment centres or specialist substance misuse practitioners and due to his reliance on prescription drugs where an alternative form of treatment may have been more beneficial to the patient or in their best interests.

The Medical Council regulates doctors to practise medicine in the Republic of Ireland.  Its statutory role, as outlined in the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, is to protect the public by promoting and better ensuring high standards of professional conduct and professional education, training and competence among registered medical practitioners.

A woman, who was deprived of her inheritance due to her mother-in-law´s grief at the loss of her son, has won a High Court judgement and almost 1.6 million Euros in medical malpractice compensation against the medical practitioners responsible for his wrongful death.

Michael Davoran (47) from Ballyvaughan, County Clare, died in August 2003 from a chronic colitis condition. His widow Grace claimed in an action against the Health Service Executive (HSE), consultant gastroenterologist John Lee and consultant surgeon Oliver McAnena, that Michael continued to be treated with medication after being admitted to University College Hospital, Galway in July 2003, even though his condition was deteriorating.

Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill at Dublin High Court heard that, because of the alleged medical malpractice of the three defendants, Michael had to undergo surgery on August 21st 2003 after it had been noticed that his condition was not improving, and then again on August 29th when an emergency laparotomy was performed due to Michael´s health getting worse despite the surgery. Michael remained in the Intensive Care Unit at University College Hospital, Galway, until two days later, when he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest due to multiple organ failure.

Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill at Dublin High Court heard that, as a result of Michael´s alleged wrongful death, his mother, Maura, changed her will in her grief to disinherit Grace and her four children from the family´s 623 acre Ballyalben Farm. Maura subsequently died, leaving the family farm and its income to her daughter, while Grace and her family – who had worked Ballyalben Farm all their lives – now had to rely on the income from the adjacent, much smaller Ballycahill Farm.

The defendants did not deny liability for Michael´s death, but argued that it was a disagreement between Michael´s widow and mother which was responsible for the disinheritance. Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill rejected the argument, stating that even if this was the case, it could be attributed to the mother´s distressed state of mind after her son´s death. Furthermore, he stated, he was satisfied that had it not been for his wrongful death, Michael´s dependents would have inherited the Ballyalben Farm.

Finding in favour of Grace´s claim for medical malpractice compensation, the judge awarded her 1,312,275 Euros for the loss of inheritance of Ballyalben Farm, 184,271 Euros in loss of income from farming the estate and 50,436 Euros to represent half the estimated loss that Michael´s dependants incurred from rental income – assuming that they would have moved out of the Ballycahill Farm after Maura´s death and rented it.

An error in the dosage of flu vaccine given to the public and the Health Service Executive´s own staff has the potential to result in medical negligence claims.  

Red-faced officials at the HSE admitted that child dosages of the flu vaccine had been administered to almost 500 members of the public and 850 employees at eleven HSE centres in the Dublin and Mid-Leinster regions – leaving them at risk of contracting a flu virus when the recipients of the vaccine would have believed they were protected against infection.

The error only came to light after a pharmacist queried why so much vaccine remained in the syringe after administering the “recommended” dosage, and it is believed that 75 of 835 pharmacists trained to give flu vaccines to those most at risk from contracting the virus were incorrectly trained by Hibernian Healthcare.

The company has now acknowledged its error and agreed to cover the cost of providing second flu vaccines to ensure recipients are adequately protected. However the question of whether a person who fails to receive a booster vaccine, and then falls ill from the flu, is entitled to make a medical negligence claim for compensation still remains open.

The majority of the incorrect flu vaccine doses have been given to those most at risk from contracting the virus, including people with long-term illnesses, the elderly and front-line HSE staff. Should any of these people fall ill from the flu due to being given an inadequate dose of flu vaccine, the consequences could be fatal.

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.

A seven year old boy, who was born with spastic cerebral palsy due to the negligence of nursing staff prior to his delivery, has had a partial settlement of more than one million Euros approved in the High Court.

Shane Kenny of Ballyduff, County Waterford, sued the Health Service Executive through his mother Catherine, due to alleged negligence in the events leading up to his birth at the Erinville Hospital, County Cork, on November 2nd 2004.

In the birth negligence compensation claim, Mr Justice John Quirke at the High Court heard that there had been a failure to act on the results of a cardiotocogragh trace (CTG) which showed that the boy´s foetal heart rate was abnormal. Due to this oversight, Shane was delivered by forceps, which resulted in a partial hypoxic event.

The court heard that, although Shane is able to attend mainstream education, he is not expected to achieve the required cognitive capacity to sit State exams and will never be capable of independent living.

Liability for Shane´s birth negligence injury was admitted by the Health Service Executive, and an interim settlement of 1,004,000 Euros had been agreed between the parties to cover past costs and expenses, and to provide care and education for Shane for the next two years.

Approving the birth negligence settlement, Mr Justice John Quirke stated that he hoped legislation would be introduced within the next two years to facilitate periodic payments to those who had suffered catastrophic injury. The birth negligence settlement does not account for Shane´s future loss of earnings, which will be agreed in a hearing to be scheduled next year.

A former director the Mid-Staffordshire Health Service in the UK has warned that fatality rates in Irish hospitals will rise unless there is some easing of budget cuts.

Mike Gill was speaking from experience when he addressed the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) at a conference in Croke Park, Dublin – during his tenure at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, an enquiry concluded that between 2005 and 2008 up to 1,200 patients had died unnecessarily due to the management´s prioritising of finances over patient care.

Mr Gill also stressed the importance in his speech of Irish nurses and midwives speaking out about the issues they encounter at the frontline of the health service. Condemning what he referred to as the “culture of non-reporting” he encountered while at the head of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, Mr Gill insisted that “the patient must always be the priority”.

His sentiments were echoed by the union’s general secretary Liam Doran who stated that “Mid Staffordshire has said that nurses and midwives cannot be silent. They cannot be silenced by the system, they cannot be emasculated by the system, they have to have the courage, when they believe care is being compromised, to speak up and speak out.”

He continued, “When that doesn’t happen, patient care and mortality rates actually increase and we have to listen and learn. We can’t pretend that we are not going to make the same mistakes as other health systems have when finance has been given priority.”

Before the start of the conference INMO had released a statement saying that the Irish Health Service was under unbearable pressure and Mr Doran had words to add to this also. “At the moment I don’t see any floor for the Irish health service, we still have the moratorium in place, we still have beds closed on an increasing basis, we still have community services being cut back and now we are told X hundreds of millions more has to come out for the fourth year in a row.

The conference also heard how the closure of 2,317 beds and loss of almost 3,000 nurses meant that union members had “never been more frustrated” at the failings of the system to listen to and act upon what they were saying. The union warned of increased mortality rates and wrongful deaths in Irish hospitals unless the Government reverses its policy of prioritising budget cuts over patient care.

Current proposals for health service funding could see a further 500 million Euros cut from the existing budget, following a 1 billion Euros reduction in 2011.

A woman, who claimed her dental treatment had been negligent and resulted in years of pain and suffering, has won her High Court compensation claim and been awarded 255,000 Euros in damages.

Esther Hammond (61) of Rathcoole, County Dublin, made her dental negligence claim against registered dental surgeon Brendan Bastible of Greenhills, Dublin, from whom she had first sought treatment in May 1991 for a loose crown that had been fitted by another dentist.

Mr Bastible had treated Esther for the loose crown, filled several cavities in other teeth and treated her for the gum disease periodontitis. However, it was when Mr Bastible applied braces to her upper jaw in November 1991, and lower jaw in 1993, that Esther´s problems began.

Mr Justice John Quirke at the High Court heard that the wires which held the braces together regularly snapped, causing lacerations within Esther´s mouth which resulted in significant pain and affected her quality of life. Esther also claimed that her dental problems also affected her relationship with her family and led to psychological problems, which still persist today.

Expert witnesses testified in court that the fitting of the braces was inappropriate at the time and Esther´s legal counsel advised the judge that Mr Bastible was not qualified to perform orthodontic treatment of this nature. It was also confirmed by a medical expert that it would take five more years of dental treatment until the physical damage done by Mr Bastible would be repaired.

In making his judgement, Mr Justice John Quirke stated that he was satisfied that the treatment Esther had received was indeed negligent and that it fell below the standards required of a practicing dental surgeon. He awarded Esther 170,000 Euros in general damages, 50,000 Euros to account for future pain and suffering while undergoing remedial treatment and 35,000 Euros to compensate for past and future special damages – a total of 255,000 Euros.

A young woman, who was found to have cerebral palsy shortly after her birth, has had a compensation settlement of 1.4 million Euros approved in the High Court.

Deborah French (24) of Ballymitty, County Wexford, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy shortly after her birth in August 1987 at Wexford General Hospital. Her parents brought a claim for birth injury compensation against consultant obstetrician Harry Murphy and the South Eastern Health Board, alleging that Dr Murphy had been negligent in the hours leading up to and during Deborah´s birth.

The case was settled without admission of liability by the defendants, a course of action supported by Mr Justice John Quirke as he approved the settlement, stating that the conflicting opinions offered by medical experts may have put the family at risk of getting nothing in a trial.

The judge recommended that the funds be released to Deborah´s parents – Ann and John French – in annual increments of 100,000 Euros.

The High Court in Dublin has heard that a claim for wrongful death compensation has now been settled for an undisclosed sum by the Health Service Executive in the case of David O´Leary.

David of Ballinascarthy, County Cork, was 12 years old when he died of acute myocarditis in February 2007, after having been diagnosed with a winter vomiting bug by doctors at the Cork University Hospital.

David´s parents alleged in their action against the hospital and the Health Service Executive that David had tried to explain to doctors how ill he was and that he had difficulty breathing. They claimed that, had the doctor´s listened to what their son was trying to tell them, his condition would have been diagnosed and David would still be alive today.

The Health Service Executive denied the allegations, but had expressed in a letter to the parents its sincere regret for any deficiencies or inattention in the care of their son. The letter, which was read out to Mr Justice John Quirke at the High Court also stated that the family could take comfort from the “lessons that have been learned by all concerned with David´s care”.

Mr Justice John Quirke heard that the medical negligence claim against the Health Service Executive had been settled for an undisclosed sum without admission of liability, and had included the maximum amount payable of 33,000 Euros for the nervous shock and mental distress of the parents as a result of David´s death.