Two surgical injury claims settled by Penningtons Manches

Posted: 10/11/2014

The Penningtons Manches clinical negligence team has settled two claims for patients suffering injury during surgery – one against BMI Healthcare Ltd and the other against Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

In the claim brought against BMI Healthcare, our client suffered haemorrhaging that required immediate surgery following the negligent performance of the removal of a Redivac drain from his neck. The defendant failed to remove the drain in the appropriate way and to provide a reasonable standard of care following its removal. We obtained expert evidence to assess our client’s psychological injury sustained as a result of the negligent treatment. The defendant admitted liability early in the case and a settlement was negotiated.

In the claim against Imperial College, a catheter became knotted and stuck in our client’s vein during a cardiac ablation procedure. Following further surgery to remove the catheter, our client developed a serious blood clot that required further treatment and the insertion of an IVC filter. The IVC filter unfortunately became stuck and our client had to undergo several attempts to remove the filter which was later removed by open surgery.

Although this was a medically complex case, the defendant admitted that it was negligent in some elements of the care provided to our client. It also acknowledged that this negligence caused our client to suffer a DVT resulting in further treatment and surgery to deal with this. Again, a settlement was reached following receipt of expert evidence and negotiations.

Both claims were conducted by Emma Beeson, associate in the clinical negligence team, and were examples of how the improper performance of routine aspects of surgical care can end up causing significant complications. In both of these cases, the defendant took a sensible approach and admitted liability enabling a sensible and quick settlement of our clients’ claims.

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