A WOMAN who had a brain haemorrhage misdiagnosed as migraine and is now confined to a wheelchair with paralysis in both legs and one arm has brought a High Court action for damages.
Kathleen Myers (49), a civil servant of The Garth, Belgard Heights, Tallaght, Co Dublin, has brought the claim against St James’s Hospital, Dublin, arising from her treatment there. The hospital has conceded liability and Mr Justice Daniel Herbert has been asked to assess damages in a hearing expected to last a number of weeks.
Outlining the claim, Denis McCullough, for Ms Myers, told the judge his client had already been made a ward of court since December 2007. He said a full defence denying negligence and liability was initially filed but liability was formally conceded by the hospital last month.
The court was told Ms Myers is a patient at St Mary’s Hospital in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, but wishes to return home. Part of her claim is for money to meet the cost of future homecare.
The case arises from events on March 19th, 2005, when Ms Myers suddenly developed a severe headache. A doctor sent her by ambulance to St James’s Hospital where she was seen and assessed. A tentative diagnosis of migraine was made and blood tests were organised. Ms Myers was discharged on medication and advised to see her family doctor for a follow-up.
It is claimed Ms Myers was found collapsed and unconscious at her home on the afternoon of March 21st and was taken by ambulance to hospital in Tallaght. There, a brain scan recorded a large haemorrhage and she was transferred to Beaumont Hospital.
On March 22nd, an aneurism was located and eliminated by a clip repair method but, despite this, Ms Myers’s brain was swollen, counsel said. Had a CT scan been done within a 24-hour period, it would have shown blood and Ms Myers would have been moved to Beaumont, Mr McCullough said.
Ms Myers would not have gone on to have her second catastrophic bleed, and would have made an excellent recovery and been rehabilitated back into her former employment, he added. Unfortunately, the diagnosis at St James’s was not correct, as the hospital now admitted, and Ms Myers had a second haemorrhage, Mr McCullough said. Very frank admissions were made by an accident emergency consultant at a family meeting and it was admitted a mistake had been made and Ms Myers had not been treated as she should have been.