A girl had six surgeries, which allegedly should not have taken place, to treat a congenital squint in one of her eyes, the High Court has heard.
The girl, now a teenager, settled an action against the HSE on Thursday for €120,000 over her treatment at University Hospital Waterford.
The settlement was reached without an admission of liability.
In the girl’s case it was claimed the surgery she had for a downward-looking eye allegedly caused an overcorrection and her eye then looked upward.
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It was claimed that after the six surgeries the girl was left in a worse condition than she was in 2012 when she first had surgery as a toddler.
Alan Keating SC, for the girl, told the court she was six-months-old when she was taken to the hospital as she had a congenital squint in her left eye.
Counsel said that between the ages of two and seven years the girl had six surgeries involving the eye muscles, which their side would say “were either wrong or should not have taken place at all”.
Mr Keating said the first surgery resulted in an overcorrection where the child’s eye then deviated upwards. Her right eye, which did not have a squint, was also operated on.
“Really, they got it all wrong,” he said at one stage.
Mr Keating said the surgeries did not affect the girl’s eyesight, but there is “a profound cosmetic issue”.
He said experts on their side would say that if nothing was done then it was likely the girl would now have a normal appearance.
Experts on their side would also say that further squint surgery would be challenging, hazardous and unpredictable.
In the proceedings against the HSE, it was claimed there was an alleged failure to discuss fully the risks and benefits of operating before the first surgery, including the risk of not improving the condition and needing further surgical procedures.
There was also, it was claimed, an alleged failure to have such a conversation with the girl’s parents in advance of the procedures.
All the claims were denied.
Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was fair and reasonable and he conveyed his best wishes to the teenager.
