A HIGH Court action by a Garda sergeant who claimed he is blind as a result of alleged failure to promptly diagnose a serious eye infection linked to the wearing of contact lenses has settled on undisclosed terms.
Niall Fitzpatrick (47), a father of two from Boher, Co Limerick, had sued the Health Service Executive and a consultant eye specialist, Raymond Niland. The defendants had denied the claims.
On the second day of the case yesterday, Ms Justice Mary Irvine was told by Liam Reidy SC, for Mr Fitzpatrick, the case had been settled and the proceedings against both defendants could be struck out. No details of the settlement were disclosed.
When opening the case, Mr Reidy said the first symptoms of his client’s condition began in June 2005 and his eyesight had deteriorated dramatically three months later.
Mr Fitzpatrick was seen on 11 occasions from his first meeting with an ophthalmic registrar at the emergency unit of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick on June 12th, 2005, until his admission to the hospital on September 8th, 2005. During those three months, all those who saw his client failed to take “the most preliminary step towards diagnosing him” by taking a swab of the eye, counsel said.
Mr Reidy said doctors continued to treat Mr Fitzpatrick for a viral keratitis when his condition later turned out to be acanthamoeba keratitis, a serious corneal infection of the eye linked to wearing contact lenses.
Mr Reidy said the condition was well recognised by 2005 and was known to result in blindness unless diagnosed and treated early. If the diagnosis had been made earlier, Mr Fitzpatrick, who had been wearing soft contact lenses, would have made a full recovery, counsel said.
Following several examinations, it was claimed Mr Fitzpatrick was admitted to hospital on September 8th, where Mr Niland asked two colleagues to review him. Both diagnosed acanthamoeba keratitis. Mr Fitzpatrick’s vision deteriorated and, despite specialist treatment since, including in the UK and Boston, he continues to have no useful sight in his eyes.