Total Damages: £25,000
Trial/settlement date: 22/12/2010
Age at trial: Deceased
Type of Award: Out of Court Settlement
Court: Out of Court Settlement
Age at injury: 48
Sex: Male
The claimant, on behalf of the estate of her deceased brother (X), received £25,000 after her brother died from a heart attack following anaesthetic complications in October 2008. Following X's death his parents could no longer benefit from the daily care which he willing provided.
The claimant (C) was the executrix of the estate of the deceased (X) who died on October 29, 2008, aged 48.
Clinical Negligence: On October 29, 2008, X underwent surgery at a hospital of the defendant trust (D) for the excision of a sarcoma in the right buttock which was then to be covered by a flap. It was known that X had suffered from ankylosing spondylitis and stiffness in his neck. It was planned that the anaesthetic procedure would be commenced in the early morning and that the surgery would commence shortly afterwards. The equipment to be used during surgery did not provide retrievable recording of data.X was anaesthetised and during his subsequent surgery his condition initially remained stable but the end tidal carbon dioxide then began to increase. The anaesthetist opted to manually assist X's ventilation and he continued to do so until X went into cardiac arrest. X's condition continued to deteriorate and by late afternoon his blood pressure had dropped and he was showing signs of bradycardia and cyanosis. CPR was commenced but ventilation using LMS was unsuccessful.
X was repositioned from the lateral to the prone position and, following a jaw thrust procedure, ventilation in the lungs became successful. Attempts were made to secure a definitive airway for X which then occurred by inserting an intubating MA and passing an endotracheal tube into the trachea. However, X quickly became asystolic and died shortly after.
C sustained injury and brought an action against D alleging that it was negligent in failing (i) to use a temperature probe during what was clearly going to be a prolonged operation; (ii) to record anaesthetic data during surgery; (iii) to keep a patent airway; (iv) to note X's deterioration and to act appropriately; (v) to call for emergency assistance; (vi) to note that X had become deeply cyanosed; (vii) to preserve data, being unaware that the computers lost data within three hours of being switched off; (viii) to ensure effective communication between anaesthetic and surgical personnel before surgery.
Liability not admitted nor discussed during settlement.
Injuries: X suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest, secondary to loss of airway and hypoxia and he subsequently died.
Effects: X's parents lost the daily care he had provided to them.
Out of Court Settlement: £25,000 total damages.
Breakdown of General Damages:
Parents' loss of financial dependency: £22,000.
Breakdown of Special Damages:
Funeral expenses: £3,000.
Henmans LLP (Oxford) for the claimant.
Beachcroft LLP for the defendant.
LTLPI 10/6/2011
This Quantum Report was provided courtesy of Carolyn Lowe of Henmans LLP, solicitors for the claimant. Document No. AM0201744
Reproduced by kind permission of Lawtel (www.lawtel.com)