Hospital Negligence Led to Woman’s Death

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.