£700,000 obtained for Mrs T following catalogue of errors

Ben Ward, a medical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal, has obtained a £700,000 settlement for Mrs T following medical failings which have had permanent consequences and resulted in several years of unnecessary treatment.

Mrs T, a woman then in her 50s, was first referred to her local hospital by her GP over ten years ago, after suffering symptoms of sciatica. She had a scan which showed some degeneration affecting the discs in her back but not to the extent of requiring surgery at that time. Two years later she returned with more severe symptoms affecting her whole left leg and underwent further scans. At this point, things began to go badly wrong with her care. Errors in the reporting of her CT scan resulted in an incorrect diagnosis which in turn led to inappropriate surgery. To compound the problem, she was not fully informed about the surgical options available to her which led to her undergoing extensive and inappropriate spinal surgery.

As a result of the operation, she required 2 further revision surgeries. She has been left with on-going mobility issues, long-term care needs and pain which is only manageable with use of opiates. Her leg regularly gives way which has resulted in her being at high risk of future falls.

Ben Ward comments: “Instances like this are incredibly sad and frustrating. All too often we see people whose lives have been irrevocably damaged by either an oversight or a misdiagnosis. We are also seeing an increasing number of instances where individuals are still receiving paternalistic medical advice. This case is another stark warning to clinicians of the importance of ensuring that a patient is consented for all reasonable treatment options available to them and not just those treatment options that the medical practitioner wishes to perform. This settlement will in no way fully compensate Mrs T for the impact that her injuries have had on her life. However, it will help to improve the quality of life that she has, her independence, and ensure she has the required care that she will very desperately require in the future.”