Injury Compensation News

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.

The family of a man, who was tragically crushed to death between two diggers in a workplace accident, is to receive 550,000 Euros wrongful death at work compensation from the man´s former employers.

Ronan Conway (27) died after leaving the cab of his vehicle to investigate something in the ground in front of where he was working. Unfortunately he had failed to lock the safety lever on the digger before leaving the vehicle and was crushed between his digger and another working on the site.

Following an investigation into the fatal accident of November 2008, Ronan´s fiancée of eight years Anne Marie Morgan (30) of Kilcullen, County Wicklow, claimed wrongful death at work compensation from Ronan´s former employers – OB Hire and Sales Limited – alleging that they were responsible for Ronan´s fatal accident due to allowing him to work in a yard which had “little or no lighting”.

OB Hire and Sales Limited denied the allegations – claiming that Ronan had failed to follow the training he had been given in the operation of the digger and that it was his own negligence which led to his fatal accident.

However, at Dublin High Court, Mr Justice John Quirke heard that the company had made an offer to settle the claim for wrongful death at work compensation which the family were prepared to accept. The total amount of compensation had been reduced to account for Ronan´s contributory negligence and was to be divided between the claimant, Ronan´s parents and siblings, and the children both Ronan and Ms Morgan had from their previous relationships.

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.

The family of a Lithuanian man, who was crushed to death by a forklift while working in a lighting store in County Wexford, has been awarded 349,600 Euros for his wrongful death in the High Court.

Rimydas Valteras of New Ross, County Wexford, was employed at Harte Designs of Adamstown, County Wexford when, in April 2006 he the fatal accident occurred. Rimydas had been standing on a forklift operated by fellow employee Emmet Delany, when it crashed into shelving causing him to sustain fatal crush injuries which resulted in his death.

Mr Justice John Quirke heard at the High Court that the accident occurred just two weeks after Rimydas´ wife, Rasa, had purchased tickets for herself and their two young children to fly to Ireland to establish a new life together, and that the two defendants – Emmet Delany and Harte Designs – both accepted liability in Rasa´s forklift accident claim for compensation.

Calculating that Rimydas would have earned between 400.00 and 500.00 Euros per week had his employment continued, Mr Justice John Quirke awarded Rasa and her family the sum of 325,000 Euros with an additional 24,600 Euros to compensate for the mental distress she had suffered.

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.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has apologised to a family for the death of their young son from meningitis at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, County Louth, and resolved a claim for wrongful death compensation in an undisclosed out of court settlement.

The family of four month old Dean Patrick Kenny from Drogheda, County Louth, brought an action for wrongful death against the hospital and HSE, claiming that the hospital staff had failed to diagnose their son’s condition and discharged him when it was unsafe to do so.

The family alleged in their claim that Dean had been referred to the hospital with suspected meningitis by the family GP early in the morning of July 1st 2002. Dean was examined and discharged, and the family went home where Dean’s condition continued to deteriorate.

After a later visit to their GP – where meningitis was confirmed – they returned to the hospital, but it was too late to save little Dean, who died that night.

In their defence, the hospital and HSE denied negligence, and pleaded it had complied with general approved medical practices. They claimed that Dean did not show clinical features of bacterial meningitis and was feeding well.

However, shortly before High Court proceedings were about to commence, Mr Justice John Quirke was informed that the HSE had made an undisclosed offer of settlement, which was accepted by the family, and the case was to be struck out.

The widow of a peace-keeping soldier, who was killed in a landmine explosion more than twenty years ago, has had a compensation settlement of 300,000 Euros approved in the High Court. Private Maddix Armstrong (26) was killed, along with two other Irish U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers, when a landmine exploded alongside their truck on March 21 1989 near the town of Brashit in South Lebanon.
Maddix´s widow, Grainne, sued the State and Minister for Defence, alleging that the State had failed in its responsibility to take all reasonable precautions for the safety of Private Armstrong and his colleagues while they were engaged in their duties.
It was claimed in the action that the peace-keepers had been required to drive the truck in an area where there was an ever-present danger of landmines without remote-sensing equipment and with no search conducted for landmines ahead of the truck.
In April of this year, Defence Minister Alan Shatter announced that a review of the three soldiers´ deaths was to be conducted by senior counsel, Frank Callanan. The results of that review are not due until August 19, but Ms Justice Mary Irvine at the High Court heard that the State was prepared to make an offer of 300,000 Euros now to avoid a full hearing during which there would be evidential difficulties. Approving the award, Ms Justice Mary Irvine stated that these were “hard, sad cases” and with such a difficult claim to determine, Grainne Armstrong was right to accept the offer that had been made to her.

The mother of a child who died in State care nine years ago is bringing a civil action against the Health Service Executive (HSE) for alleged breach in their “duty of care”. Doreen Fay gave birth to her daughter, Tracey, in 1983. Her father wanted no part in their lives and Doreen struggled to bring up Tracey on her own. At the age of 14, Tracey was taken into care by Social Services after having been assessed as needing a stable care placement with therapeutic support.
Instead of providing the stable care Tracey needed, the HSE placed her in temporary bed and breakfast accommodation and other emergency care facilities and failed to provide the professional treatments and assessments that had been recommended.
Because of the alleged breach in the HSE’s “duty of care”, it is claimed that Tracey developed a drugs addiction and gave birth to two children while in State care. She subsequently died of a drugs overdose shortly after her eighteenth birthday.
The story of Tracey Fay made national headlines in March of last year, when a confidential HSE report into her death was read into the Dail record by the then opposition TD Alan Shatter. The report raised concerns about the treatment of vulnerable children in HSE care and a special taskforce was established to investigate the deaths of more than 200 other children.
The taskforce’s report, which was due to have been published in February, has been delayed due to the large number of cases still being investigated and delays by the HSE in providing the required information. It is still unknown when the full facts of these cases will be known.
Nonetheless, Doreen still intends to push ahead with her claim against the HSE. If she is successful, it could open the door for hundreds of similar claims from parents whose children have died in controversial circumstances while in state care.

The family of a woman who died from a heart attack after she was wrongfully discharged from hospital has won their compensation court case and are to receive 334,000 Euros in compensation. Mr. Justice John Quirke in the High Court heard how Mrs Teresa O’Brien – formally of Clara, County Offaly – had been admitted to Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore, County Offaly, in September 2004 with a heart complaint. The consultant at the Midland Regional Hospital had ordered that an angiogram be carried out and Mrs O’Brien kept in hospital. A senior house officer also performed stress tests and gave the results to a doctor. It was alleged that neither the senior house officer nor the doctor linked the stress test results with the direction given by the consultant that Mrs O’Brien should not be discharged from hospital until she had been x-rayed. Consequently, Mrs O’Brien was sent home and tragically died four days later. Her post-mortem revealed evidence of cardiovascular irregularity and it was also discovered later that the results of the stress test had been misread.
The Health Services Executive (HSE) conceded liability after Mrs O’Brien’s widower – Paul – sought damages for medical negligence and breach of duty. Mr. Justice John Quirke approved a compensation settlement of 127,000 Euros for Paul O’Brien, with further amounts of 92,000 Euros for her son Daniel and 102,000 Euros for her step-son Daryl. Smaller sums are also to be awarded to Mrs O’Brien’s two brothers and sister.

A report released by the Health and Safety Authority has revealed an increase of 127% in fatal accidents on Irish farms in 2010. The number of deaths in the agriculture industry rose from 11 in 2009 to 25 in 2010 and represents more than half of all workplace fatalities occurring in Ireland.

Commenting on the high fatal accident rate in agriculture, Chief Executive of the HSA, Mr. Martin O´Halloran stated “Farming is a difficult and challenging occupation, many involved are self-employed and the pressures that farmers are under can be intense at times. However, the fact is that the types of farm accidents that are causing deaths and serious accidents, such as those involving machinery and livestock, can be prevented.”

He also urged farmers and farm proprietors to follow the example of the construction industry, which has seen a substantial drop in workplace fatalities (from 10 to 6 in 2010), and which Mr. O´Halloran attributed to everybody “buying-in” to the concept of health and safety. Reaffirming the HSA policy that increased compliance results in a sustained reduction in accidents, Mr O´Halloran announced an increase in planned farm inspections in 2011 from 1,700 (in 2010) to a minimum of 3,000.

Acknowledging that many types of farm accidents which cause death and serious injury can be prevented, Mr. O’Halloran concluded, “We want to work with farmers by taking a sensible approach to health and safety management. We will support those that genuinely want to improve and take enforcement action against those that refuse to do so”.