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Medical Negligence Victim Receives £820,000 Compensation

Our lawyers recently acted in a clinical negligence case on behalf of a woman who suffered an accident at home, after which the failure of medical staff to accurately diagnose and treat her injuries caused them to become significantly worse.

Accident at Home

Our client suffered a fall at home. She tried to stop her fall by grabbing a vacuum cleaner, but it went underneath her back. She immediately felt pain in her lower back and right hip. She developed numbness in her feet and legs. She was taken by ambulance to her local hospital. She complained on numerous occasions of numbness in her legs and also the inability to pass urine. The doctors treating her arranged for x-rays of her hip which was clearly broken, but did not investigate the cause of her back pain and numbness.

Clinical Negligence

She continued to complain of the pain and numbness in her back and legs. The pain and numbness were becoming worse so that she had very little feeling in her lower limbs. A week later she was seen by a different doctor. He did a “sharp/blunt” test on her lower body and immediately arranged an x-ray of her spine. A fracture of the vertebrae was diagnosed and she was transferred to a regional neuro-surgical department in another hospital. She underwent an operation on her spine the following day and was told that one vertebra was fractured and the three below were compressed. This had resulted in the nerves being crushed and causing the paralysis. She was advised that this was a condition which had deteriorated over the previous 8 days. If it had been diagnosed and treated at the time of the original injury, the injury would have been much less severe. As a result, our client has very little feeling below her waist. She is incontinent of faeces and urine and is reliant upon a wheelchair.

Compensation Claim

Liability by the Hospital Trust was accepted, but the extent of the injuries caused remained in dispute. Following the service of proceedings a negotiated settlement was reached in the sum of £820,000.

Our client has now been able to move into an adapted bungalow and will be able to pay for professional carers for the remainder of her life.

Clinical Negligence Advice

If you or a member of your family has been affected by clinical negligence, or any personal injury that was caused by the negligence of someone else, we may be able to assist you in claiming compensation.

Contact The Legal Line on 0800 0328511, or complete an online claim enquiry form, for cost free, sympathetic advice and assistance.