Widow receives £116k compensation following death of husband during surgery
Clinical Negligence News : 12 February 2013
A woman who claimed her late husbands surgery had been conducted negligently has succeeded in winning her case.
The man, who died on April 22nd 2009, had undergone an endarterectomy procedure at the defendant hospital. However, during the surgery, the aorta was injured and the man passed away despite many attempts to save his life.
The operation notes were incredibly poor, however it was assumed that the man’s blood pressure had dropped during surgery and a laparotomy was undertaken which identified bleeding as a result of a puncture injury to the aorta.
The woman brought a surgery negligence claim against the defendant hospital, stating that the care which they had provided had been negligent, as they had: a) failed to sufficiently identify and protect the anatomy; b) used an inappropriate surgical technique which directly caused damage to the aorta; and, c) failed to use on-table X-ray which resulted in the surgeon being unaware of the position of the tip of the instrument that he was passing upwards.
Liability was admitted in full and the woman later received £116,000.