Case studies

We have acted in several cases involving the failure to investigate and diagnose testicular torsion properly. This is a relatively rare condition, normally affecting adolescents, but can sometimes affect older men and younger boys.

We have recently issued proceedings on behalf of a client who is bringing a medical negligence claim relating to the management of her care in the period following surgery, when her arm was allowed to become trapped between the rail of her bed and her mattress. At the time, she suffered from significant bruising, grazing and a haematoma, and since this date she has experienced debilitating pain in her arm.

We are advising on behalf of a minor who underwent an operation to remove her appendix and who was discharged from hospital the following day, notwithstanding concerns her mother expressed that our client had a high temperature and was feverish.

The claimant in this case had undergone laparoscopic surgery to terminate an ectopic pregnancy at an NHS hospital. She was told that the procedure had been fully successful but continued to feel unwell. On the second day after surgery, she went back to the hospital for tests which confirmed that she was still pregnant. She was informed that she needed a further procedure, but the hospital could not guarantee the operation would be carried out that day or who the surgeon would be.

Our client suffered congenital abnormalities as a result of which he had to undergo extensive surgery shortly following his birth. The surgery itself proceeded smoothly, but after his discharge our client developed necrotising entercolitis for which he had to be readmitted.

Our client was nine days old when he suffered asphyxia because a ventilation tube became blocked, starving him of oxygen and causing permanent brain damage.

Brachial plexus injuries can arise during birth, where excessive force or incorrect manoeuvres are applied to try to deliver a baby whose shoulder may be obstructed, preventing delivery.

Our client was advised by a podiatric surgeon to undergo surgery for hammer toes, but during the operation the oxygen supply to her toes was depleted leading to ischaemia.

We have recently settled a case against a private orthopaedic surgeon for inappropriate and technically unacceptable knee surgery. Our client is in her 60s and had suffered intermittent knee pain for several years. The surgeon had advised against operating. She then had two isolated episodes of immobilising pain and sought his advice. Without further investigations or examination, he told her she needed a partial knee replacement which he performed a couple of months later.

We settled a considerable claim against East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust for a client who suffered a delay in the diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease.

We were approached by the family of a woman who died aged 44 in September 2007 due to a misdiagnosis of influenza. She was in fact suffering from pneumonia which had also caused septicaemia.

Our client had been suffering pain in his hand and wrist and found his grip affected and, therefore, his work as a plumber. He was advised to undergo routine carpal tunnel release surgery.