£11 Million Compensation For Anaesthetic Negligence – Medical Negligence Calculate Amounts
On this page, we take a look at a reported case in the media of a woman who was in her 40s who underwent a routine operation that led to her suffering severe brain damage. The brain injuries were said to be due to anaesthetic negligence. If you have landed on this page because you may be looking to make a claim either for yourself or a loved one who has suffered brain damage, motor function difficulties, cardiac arrest or other types of harm due to negligent anaesthetic treatment, then you may be interested to read how this type of case could occur. We’ll also look at how much compensation for anaesthetic negligence could be appropriate for other cases, as well as explaining how you could make an anaesthetic negligence compensation claim of your own if you have suffered because of an error by the anaesthetist who was supposed to be caring for you. If you require situation-specific advice on this type of case, then you can call us at any time on 0800 073 8804. Otherwise, why not read the below to find out more about this case.
Select A Section
- What Happened To This Claimant Due To Anaesthetic Negligence?
- What Anaesthetic Negligence And Mistakes Were Made With Her Treatment?
- What Brain Injuries Was The Claimant Left With Because Of Negligent Anaesthetic Usage?
- What Steps Did The Tribunal Find The Doctors Should Have Taken?
- How Was The Case Against North Middlesex Hospital Handled?
- What Was The Claimant Awarded And Why?
- Anaesthetic Negligence And Brain Injury Compensation Calculator
- No Win No Fee Compensation Claims For Anaesthetic Negligence
- How Could Legal Expert’s Medical Negligence Claim Team Help Me?
- Start Your Anaesthetic Negligence Claim
- Essential Medical Negligence References
What Happened To This Claimant Due To Anaesthetic Negligence?
The woman, who was in her 40s at the time, went into North Middlesex hospital for routine surgery on her Achilles. The anaesthetic negligence led to the woman suffering a cardiac arrest and brain damage, which resulted in her needing home care around the clock.
Anaesthetic negligence
An anaesthetist, as well as other surgical and medical staff that have a duty of care towards their patients, should act responsibly and provide a safe standard of care towards their patients. If they do not do so, which was proved in this case, and harm is suffered by the patient, it could lead to a victim of anaesthesia negligence being able to sue an anaesthetist, or the trust that employs them, for this negligence. This could be the case where there is anaesthetic awareness during surgery, where the wrong dosage of anaesthetic is given, or, like this case, where the standard of care post-surgery was not up to standard and resulted in harm to the patient.
What Anaesthetic Negligence And Mistakes Were Made With Her Treatment?
The anaesthetic negligence occurred at the end of the operation the woman had on her Achilles tendon. It was reported that the woman was slow to wake from the anaesthetic she was given, and a drug that was issued after the surgery to wake up as a respiratory stimulant wore off before the woman’s own respiratory system was operating fully. It was argued by the claimant’s lawyers that the anaesthetist should have been aware of the risks of the drug and should have ensured that staff in the recovery room were made aware of the drug having been issued and the need to monitor the woman’s breathing because of the risks of the drug being used. It was thought that this instruction wasn’t given, or if it had been given, it was not adhered to.
What Brain Injuries Was The Claimant Left With Because Of Negligent Anaesthetic Usage?
The woman was left with a series of problems relating to her brain injuries. According to her lawyers in this medical negligence anaesthetic case, she was left with cognitive and motor impairments. These include memory problems, a slowing of mental speed, and the fact that she has only a limited insight into her own condition. The motor impairments suffered because of the clinical malpractice were said to include finger movements, as well as balance problems, which means that there is a constant risk of falling.
The victim is said to now tire easily, and no longer has a sense of taste. It was also revealed that she chokes on some liquids and has a developed a condition called myoclonus, which means she suffers with involuntary muscle spasms.
What Steps Did The Tribunal Find The Doctors Should Have Taken?
The tribunal found that the drug the woman was given as she was slow to wake up after the anaesthesia, Doxapram, which is a respiratory stimulant, wore off before her own respiratory system had recovered, therefore resulting in oxygen deprivation that resulted in a cardiac arrest and the woman’s brain injury.
How Was The Case Against North Middlesex Hospital Handled?
Doxapram only proves effective in the short-term and a known risk of using the drug is that its effects could wear off prior to the effects of the anaesthetic drug that it is being used to reverse the effects of. It was alleged in this case of anaesthesia negligence that if the woman had been closely observed and monitored, and her respiratory problems had been detected earlier, the cardiac arrest would not, on the balance of probability, have occurred. Liability, in this case, was admitted early on in the claim’s process.
What Was The Claimant Awarded And Why?
The claimant, in this case, was awarded £11m for the medical negligence of anaesthetic treatment. The report was not clear on how much of this was for special damages or legal fees.
Anaesthetic Negligence And Brain Injury Compensation Calculator
You may be wondering how much compensation for anaesthetic negligence would be appropriate for your claim. What we can tell you is that all personal injury claims are assessed on their own merits, and anaesthetic negligence compensation amounts could vary between cases. You would be required to undergo an assessment by an independent medical professional, who would compile a report that could be used to value your claim. While you may have seen a personal injury claims calculator on another site, we have chosen instead to offer you some of the guideline payout compensation amounts for injuries that could be caused by anaesthetic negligence that are produced by the Judicial College. While these are only guideline anaesthetic negligence compensation amounts, we feel it gives an approximate indication to claimants of how much their claim might be worth.
| Injuries | Notes | Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Serious Injuries for example brain injuries | Serious Injuries & brain injuries total claim settlements can be as high a £10 Million. | Can Be As High As £10 Million. Contact us for more information. |
| Very Severe Brain Damage | Right at the top of the bracket could include those cases where claimants might be able to respond to basic commands, and there may be some ability to open the eyes, have a sleep/wake patterns and have some postural reflexes. There would be little to no language ability, little response to their environment, they would be doubly incontinent and they would require nursing care full-time | £264,650 to £379,100 |
| Moderately Severe Brain Damage | The victim in these cases would be disabled to a very serious degree. They could have physical disabilities or cognitive disabilities. Life expectancy may have been reduced and other medical problems could develop as a result of their injuries, including blindness. | £205,580 to £264,650 |
| Moderate Brain Damage | Those who have a moderately to severely affected intellect. Personality changes, effects on the sight, speech and the other senses, and where there is an inability to work and risk of epilepsy. | £140,870 to £205,580 |
| Moderate Brain Damage | Those who have a moderately to modestly affected intellect. Where there is a reduced ability to work and risk of epilepsy. | £85,150 to £140,870 |
| Moderate Brain Damage | Those who have concentration and memory detrimentally affected. There may be a limited dependence on others, there may also be a risk of epilepsy, although smaller. There may also be a reduced ability to work. | £40,410 to £85,150 |
| Less Severe Brain Damage | A good recovery would have been made with the victim being able to live a normal life and be able to work. Some persistent issues may remain, however, such as poor concentration or poor memory | £14,380 to £40,410 |
| Minor Brain Injury | Minimal brain damage | £2,070 to £11,980 |
| Established Grand Mal (Epilepsy) | – | £95,710 to £140,870 |
| Established Petit Mal | Assessment would take into account what extent medication had on the condition, how well it was controlled, the effect on social life, the effect on working life and more. | £51,460 to £123,340 |
As well as the amounts above, there could be other anaesthetic negligence compensation amounts added to the claim for costs and losses incurred as a result of the negligence. These could include care costs, home adaptations, medical costs, travel costs and income losses. These could be classed as special damages and could significantly alter the anaesthetic negligence compensation payouts you could receive.
No Win No Fee Compensation Claims For Anaesthetic Negligence
If you’re thinking of making a personal injury claim for clinical malpractice, whether for anaesthetic negligence or any other type of medical negligence, having a legal professional on your side could help make the process less stressful, as they could take on the hard work of building your case and fighting for the anaesthetic negligence compensation payouts you deserve. Making a no win no fee claim couldn’t be easier with our panel of no win no fee solicitors. You would not be required to pay anything upfront to begin such claims. The solicitor you choose would provide you with an agreement document that you would be required to sign, that promises the lawyer a percentage of your compensation payouts once they were paid. This could be referred to as a success fee, as it would only be due once the solicitor had successfully achieved a settlement on your behalf. If the solicitor was unable to achieve a payout for a valid claim, then you would not be required to pay this fee. If you would like to ask us anything more about making a claim in this manner, we’d be happy to advise you.
How Could Legal Expert’s Medical Negligence Claim Team Help Me?
While there are many services out there to help those who have been the victim of clinical negligence and specifically anaesthetic negligence, we feel we could offer you all the support you could need if you’re considering making a claim for brain damage caused by negligent anaesthetic treatment. We have helped many victims of medical malpractice, and our previous clients could attest to the quality of the service we provide.
When you call us, you’ll be speaking to a member of our specially trained team who will be able to go through an initial assessment of your case, to check whether you could be eligible to claim compensation for respiratory problems, brain injuries, motor impairment or other types of harm caused by an error by the anaesthetist that was treating you. If you’re calling on behalf of someone who is unable to claim for themselves, perhaps because of cognitive impairment, we’ll be able to help here too with an assessment of their case. We could even talk about how much compensation for anaesthetic negligence your claim might deserve – although at this early stage, we could only provide a rough idea, as previously mentioned.
If we feel you could have a claim for compensation, then we would be glad to offer the services of one of our no win no fee solicitors to help fight for the anaesthetic negligence compensation payouts the case deserves. However, you are under no obligation at all to use our services, and the decision on whether to use a personal injury lawyer from our panel for your case is entirely yours.
Start Your Anaesthetic Negligence Claim
Whether you are still wondering whether you could be eligible to make a claim for anaesthetic negligence, either for yourself or on behalf of a patient with brain injuries, then one call to us could help to clarify your position. Or, if you’d like to begin a claim and are looking for a personal injury solicitor for your claim, we could help here too, by providing an experienced solicitor from our panel to help you with your medical negligence claim. You can reach our team in a number of different ways:
By filling out the contact form.
By using our Live Chat service
By calling us on 0800 073 8804
By e-mailing us on info@legalexpert.co.uk
However you choose to contact us, you’ll find us ready to help you. We look forward to hearing from you.
Essential Medical Negligence References
Claiming For Medical Negligence – Here you can read our general guide on making medical negligence claims.
Surgical Negligence – We also offer guidance on making surgical negligence claims. You can find our guide here.
GMC Guidance on Anaesthesia – You can read about the guidance and standards for training in anaesthesia here.
NHS Information On Anaesthesia – There is some information for patients undergoing anaesthesia on the NHS website.
Original Case Information – www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7723355/Woman-40s-wins-11million-compensation-NHS-blunder.html
