A neurosurgeon will be paying €170,000 in compensation to a patient for medical negligence, after the doctor’s appeal was thrown out by the Supreme Court last week, it was announced on Monday.
The court heard that the patient developed serious health complications following spinal surgery performed by the doctor at a private clinic in 2007.
Referring to medical testimony, the court ruled that the doctor had failed to provide proper-post-operative care and did not treat a haemorrhage that had occurred during the operation.
This led to the patient developing a medical condition known as cauda equina syndrome, a compression of nerve roots at the bottom of the spinal cord severely affecting the patient’s life.
In dismissing the appeal, the Supreme Court held that the doctor had not provided the plaintiff with the appropriate post operative care. It also held that the doctor had not informed the plaintiff about the risks of the operation prior to operating on her.
Issuing the unanimous judgement of the Supreme Court, judge Lena Demetriadou Andreou held that a doctor, prior to carrying out an operation, has the duty to warn the patient of the risks that an operation entails.
The judge said this warning should cover all matters that a patient would reasonably want to know, not only matters that the doctor himself considers to be important.