Case studies

We recovered a seven-figure settlement for the mother of a child who was born with an inherited chromosomal disorder: an insertion translocation between chromosomes 2 and 9.

Our client had suffered from pain in her left knee for a number of years. Following an investigation, she was told she needed to have a total knee replacement (TKR).

We recently secured £35,000 compensation in an out-of-court settlement for a client who suffered a bowel perforation that could have been prevented.

Cases involving swabs and instruments do still occur notwithstanding attempts to avoid such incidents. As an example, we acted for a client who underwent major pelvic exenteration surgery for vaginal cancer during which a swab was left in situ.

Our client was advised by a podiatric surgeon that she needed a tibial tendon augmentation to improve her pain and mobility.

Our client, a woman in her 60s, accidentally cut herself preparing food at home. She went to her local hospital, Ellesmere Port Hospital, where she was seen in the dressings clinic and told by the nurse that the injury would heal itself. She went back in five days and the wound was checked and the dressing changed. She was reassured the injury would heal and discharged.

Our client underwent ACL reconstruction to repair damage to the ligament. This involves creating a tunnel through the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (one of the two bones in the lower leg). A graft is then taken from the hamstring, inserted into the tunnel and secured.

In this case our client sadly ended up requiring a below knee amputation with reduced life expectancy of between one and two years.

We recently secured £10,000 in an out-of-court settlement for a client who suffered a delay in surgical treatment to remove a blackthorn from his hand which resulted in the amputation of the tip of his thumb.

Our client had a temporary colostomy whilst she was treated with radiotherapy for anal cancer. After the successful cancer treatment, the temporary colostomy was reversed, but she suffered on-going problems and eventually decided to have a permanent colostomy.

We resolved a claim for damages for a family whose son died in hospital only a few hours after his birth. The mother had an uneventful pregnancy with no complications but, within hours of admission, she was noted to be suffering from pyrexia and meconium stained liquor was evident. Oxytocin was given to progress labour and the dosage increased despite a number of indications that its use was contraindicated.

Testicular torsion is a relatively rare occurrence, but when it arises it requires treatment within a very short timescale or the testicle is at risk of being lost.