£224,627 Compensation for stroke caused by simple medication error
Our client, an 81 year-old lady, called an out of hours GP after she felt dizzy and her speech became slurred, but she was told simply to see her own GP the next day. He believed she had suffered a mild stroke and admitted her to hospital.
Strokes are normally due to ischemia and the treatment for that requires aspirin. However a minority of strokes are due to a haemorrhage, in which case giving aspirin will only make things worse. Best practice should be to find out if the stroke was due to a haemorrhage and if not, aspirin should be administered within 24 hours.
The night after our client was admitted she suffered another, more serious, stroke and only then was she finally given aspirin. We approached the NHS Trust arguing that their failure act in accordance with agreed best medical practice directly contributed to her suffering the second, more serious stroke.
After care was also never provided and the Trust had evidently failed to provide our client with a reasonable standard of care. She had suffered needlessly and had also incurred costs for the support she ought to have had as part of a rehabilitation package.
These failures condemned her to prematurely spending her remaining years being utterly dependent on others - a fate that could have been easily avoided by prescribing an everyday medication. After negotiations, the NHS Trust offered to settle for £224,627 and our client now has all the support and care she requires and will likely need for the rest of her life.
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This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is recommended that specific professional advice is sought before acting on any of the information given. © Shoosmiths LLP 2024
