£3.45m compensation for woman left brain damaged by hospital
Grannia East, 44, suffered severe brain damage due to a catalogue of medical errors that started when she underwent routine treatment at Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport in January 2001.
Mrs East had complications after surgery and suffered a cardiac arrest. She is now wheelchair-bound, has memory and concentration problems and needs round-the-clock care.
The case went to the High Court in 2007 and the East family won but the Ministry of Defence, as the body responsible for the hospital, initially refused to pay out despite the High Court ruling that those who treated her were negligent.
The MoD then took the case to the Court of Appeal, but in July 2008 Lord Justice Waller, Lord Justice Smedley and Lady Justice Smith unanimously dismissed the MoD's appeal and ruled in Mrs East's favour and approved a settlement of £3.45m in compensation at the High Court.
Speaking outside court, Mrs East's husband said: 'We have had a very hard fight getting compensation for Grannia but we have a magnificent legal team who fought brilliantly for us all the way. I am very pleased that the case has now been settled before we had to go through another trial. It means that we can now get on and adapt a property for Grannia that is a suitable place to care for her.'
Bleeding, Kidney Failure and Cardiac Arrest
A catalogue of errors in Grannia East's medical care has torn her life apart.
She initially underwent a procedure to check and treat a possible gallstone in her bile duct at Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport on 11 January 2001. However medics were forced to abandon the operation after she suffered serious internal bleeding.
The following day she developed pancreatitis and was rushed to the High Dependency Unit. Her condition deteriorated further and she was transferred from Haslar, which closed last year, to intensive care at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, two days later.
Medics discovered a massive stomach bleed. Her kidneys were also failing and she had developed acute pancreatitis. The next day medics tried to remove the blockage in her bile duct with a different procedure but tore her liver which resulted in another serious internal bleed. She needed 14 units of blood and almost died.
She began to make progress in intensive care but continued to show signs of sepsis and was transferred to the renal ward on 26 January. She later vomited after drinking about 100ml of lemonade and subsequently suffered a cardiac arrest.
At a Court of Appeal hearing in July 2008, the Ministry of Defence's appeal against an earlier ruling at the High Court that those treating her at Haslar were negligent, was unanimously dismissed.
Susan Brown a medical negligence solicitor at Reading based Boyes Turner said: “The MOD unsuccessfully appealed the decision of the High Court in 2007 to award compensation to a 44 year old woman who suffered a severe brain injury after what should have been a routine procedure for gallstones at an MOD run hospital.
We find that a number of patients contact us to help them recover compensation who have suffered very serious injuries or brain damage after what should have been straightforward medical procedures. Often it is argued that the injury occurred as a result of a rare but recognised complication of the procedure and these cases can sometimes be very difficult to bring. However determination and perserverance often wins the day and thankfully if is rare to have Court decisions appealed by an unsuccessful Defendant.
Consistent with our policy when giving comment and advice on a non-specific basis, we cannot assume legal responsibility for the accuracy of any particular statement. In the case of specific problems we recommend that professional advice be sought.
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