THE WIDOW of a man who died in hospital two days after undergoing an operation to remove a kidney has secured €250,000 in settlement of her High Court action over his death.
The defendants had denied the claims and the settlement was without admission of liability.
Nora Hayes (68), Elsinore Heights, Midleton, Co Cork, brought the proceedings after her husband, Patrick (69), died on November 6th, 2004, at the Bon Secours Hospital, College Road, Cork. The case was against consultant urologist Dermot Lanigan and the Bon Secours Health System Ltd, a company engaged in the operation of the hospital.
Dr John O’Mahony SC, for Ms Hayes, said her husband underwent an operation for the removal of a kidney but died two days later.
It was alleged his death arose from negligence and breach of duty of the defendants and their respective servants and agents.
A general anaesthetic had been administered and a slight ooze was noted from the spleen during the operation, Dr O’Mahony said.
Surgical gauze was applied to the affected area and Mr Hayes was admitted to the intensive care unit after the operation.
Dr O’Mahony said Mr Hayes subsequently suffered a massive haemorrhage and died. While there was an effort to resuscitate him, he had gone too far at that stage. The nursing staff should have been aware Mr Hayes was getting into trouble but notwithstanding that nothing was done, Dr O’Mahony added.
Two British medical experts for the plaintiffs had identified culpable omission on the part of the nursing staff and a senior house officer. As a consequence, it was alleged there was failure to contact senior surgeons and Mr Lanigan was contacted too late.
Prior to the operation Mr Hayes had been in good health, Dr O’Mahony said. He had retired and was a part-time golf course ranger.
In the proceedings, it was claimed Mr Hayes suffered cardiac arrest on November 6th, 2004, from which he could not be resuscitated. A postmortem recorded a blood clot surrounding the spleen and more than two litres of blood in the peritoneal cavity.