The tragic case of Mrs K and the real cause of medical disasters

In about October last year Mrs K had a heart attack at home. She was 40 years old and the mother of a young child. Paramedics arrived at her house and noted that she was not breathing. They attempted to ventilate her. There then followed a catalogue of errors. When she arrived at hospital it was discovered that the endotracheal tube was in the oesophagus. This meant that any oxygen was going into her abdomen and not into her lungs.

The shortage of oxygen caused her to suffer massive brain damage and she died a few days later. But for this mistake, she would probably have survived. An independent report found that wrong equipment had been used, no proper tests had been done to check that the oxygen was going to the lungs and that all but one of the paramedics, had not had clinical training for cardiac arrest management.

This was a tragic and avoidable death. I am currently dealing with the clinical negligence claim on behalf of the family. This is just one of many similar cases. It is almost two years since I posted my angriest blog of all, and the one which has had the most visits - by a mile.

http://thestevecornforthblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/unashamed-rant-from-one-angry-lawyer.html

A recent report from the Public and Health Service Ombudsman makes for disturbing reading. This document reported in today’s Guardian reviews 161 incidents between April and June 2014.

In one case a male patient died of a heart attack whilst on holiday. Doctors were aware that he was at high risk if he was to fly, but failed to warn him. In another case a mother gave birth at home after a junior midwife wrongly advised her that she was not in labour and sent her home from hospital. Perhaps the most tragic case concerns a new born baby who suffered brain damage after a nurse and two doctors failed to properly carry out a blood transfusion.

The Ombudsman, Dame Julia Mellor talks of the ‘devastating impact’ that these failures have on peoples’ lives – people like Mr K and his young family.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/29/nhs-blunders-revealed-ombudsman-report

In its annual report, earlier this year the NHS Litigation Authority reported an 18% increase in Clinical Negligence Claims between 2013 and 2014. In time honoured fashion they laid the blame at the door of lawyers acting for victims and their families –

http://www.litigationfutures.com/news/nhsla-hits-claimant-lawyers-rising-claims-costs

The NHSLA might wish to read the Ombudsman’s report, or speak to the families of victims. If the government wishes to see a reduction in claims, they should focus their

efforts on reducing the numbers of avoidable catastrophes. Ensuring resources are available for essential training seems to be a good staring point.

What is not acceptable is to blame the victims. Mr K has done nothing wrong. Why should he, and others, be made to think that the NHS is short of money because of him or his legal advisers? 

I hope that the Ombudsman's comments will see the start of a shift from passing the blame to victims to addressing the true causes of a serious problem.

www.eadsolicitors.co.uk

My Top 5 Legal Blogs

This blog is just over two and a half years old.

One great benefit has been the discovery of other legal blogs which have become an important resourse both for my writing and for the day job!

So here are my top 5 blawgs, in the style of Strictly Come Dancing, they are in ‘no particular order’!

I have included a link to their websites and also the twitter ID which is a great way to receive updates to their regular blogs.

Civil Litigation Brief

http://civillitigationbrief.wordpress.com/

@CivilLitTweet

Gordon Exall is a busy barrister from Leeds. How he finds the time to produce this remarkable blog beggars belief. It is probably the most comprehensive collection of articles and links in relation to Civil Practice and procedure. If I need to check a tricky procedural point I will look here before anything else – including the White Book. In particular it has been a good friend through the traumas of Mitchell, Dental and Relief from Sanctions.

A quick visit now will take you to articles about Indemnity Costs against Funders, Solicitors’ Retainers and of course, relief from sanctions.

For any Civil Litigator it is a worth the visit at the start of each day.

Kerry Underwood

http://kerryunderwood.wordpress.com/

@kerry_underwood

Kerry has been around for a few years, writing and speaking on law and procedure. The first time I came across him followed the introduction of Conditional Fees with his book – No Win No Fee No Worries. This was in the days before ‘No Win No Fee’ lawyer became a favourite tabloid insult!

This very detailed blog deals with most areas of civil litigation but with a particularly emphasis on funding issues. He writes as he speaks – direct, provocative and pulling no punches. Kerry is happy to respond to comments and questions. He is currently touring the country speaking on Jackson. So how he manages to keep this up to date is a mystery. But then he does support QPR which explains many things!

Go there now and the top post discusses the impact of The Criminal Judtice and Courts Bill and the impact of ‘fundamental dishonesty.’

http://kerryunderwood.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/personal-injury-revolutionized-clause-49/

Legal Cheek

http://www.legalcheek.com/

@legalcheek

Legal Work can be stressful, laborious and often unrewarding. There is no better antidote than a visit to this great, irreverent site.

The Legal Cheek team take neither themselves not the law too seriously. A visit to the site today includes a review of the movie The Judge – ‘pissing all over legal accuracy’, a look at this week’s episode of The Apprentice, with a focus on lawyer Felipe and the problems faced by a US Lawyer who took her baby to court. Some of it is hilarious and some of it is very serious, particularly in relation to the hurdles faced by anyone starting off in the law. I was drawn to one headline – ‘Become a Lawyer because you are passionate about it, not to please your parents.’ Hmm if I had read that 40 years ago!

Law and Lawyers – Obiter J

http://obiterj.blogspot.co.uk/

@obiterJ

This blog looks at serious issues of legal and constitutional importance, with a strong emphasis on Human Rights. There has been a lot of talk about the Human Rights Act in the last few weeks. It seems to have become the target of a Conservative Party which needs to more euro sceptic than UKIP. Obiter J provides a detailed explanation of the importance of the Act.

I was particularly touched by the link to a reflection on the 1966 Aber Fan disaster. I was 11 years old at the time and still remember the tragedy as being the first time the time that I shocked and upset by official incompetence. These were children of about my age.

http://momentsrecalled.blogspot.co.uk/

The Justice Gap

http://thejusticegap.com/

@justicegap

Any regular reader of my blog will know about my worries about Access to Justice for all. For anyone with a similar concern, or who just wants to find out more, this is the place to go.

A strong team of experienced and committed writers keep producing provocative and challenging material. This week, there was an article from Michael Mansfield QC on the case of Tony Stock – A Massive Blot on the Judicial Landscape. Hands up if you nothing about this case. Well you should go to The Justice Gap now. Not only will you learn something, you will want to add your voice to those who want to see this terrible miscarriage of justice overturned.

http://thejusticegap.com/2014/10/tony-stock-massive-blot-judicial-landscape/

So there we have it. They are the 5 blogs that I visit almost on a daily basis. There are many others including - http://legalchap.blogspot.co.uk/  http://ilegal.org.uk/ and

http://www.lag.org.uk/

Reading blogs has certainly overtaken the reading of law books for keeping up to date about what is happening in the world of law and lawyers. They will not replace the classic publications. But they are accessible, readable and up to date – often to the minute!

www.eadsolicitors.co.uk

Mr Downton's unfortunate joke and modern freedom of speech

Back in the 1890s Mr Downton decided to play a joke on Mrs Wilkinson. He told her that her husband had been seriously injured in an accident and that she needed to go to him urgently. She suffered psychological damage – no surprise there! Mr Downton’s conduct was found to be outrageous and to be the cause of her harm or distress. Mrs Wilkinson succeeded in her claim for damages because –

• He had willfully done the act causing injury,
• There was no doubt that the act would cause distress and
• He must therefore have intended this outcome.

This all sounds like the interesting basis of a University exam question. But the case of Wilkinson v Downton has been at the heart of a major decision of the Court of Appeal this week. It concerns the publication of a book.

Mr. A has written about his experience of childhood sexual abuse. That is nothing new. Many similar books have appeared in recent years and they have become a important encouragement for victims to come forward. They have also enabled the authors to articulate the horrors of their experience and have contributed greatly to the public understanding of what used to be hidden pain. Surely books like this should be encouraged.

But the spanner in the works is that Mr A’s own son suffers from Aspergers Syndrome, ADHD and other medical conditions. There is expert evidence that if the son was to read the book, it could have a massive effect on his mental health. It seems that Mr A and his ex-wife had agreed that they would try to prevent the son becoming aware of events in their lives which could have a detrimental effect. It was the ex-wife who brought these proceedings for an injunction, to prevent publication.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/10/wife-injunction-abuse-book-son

The issue before the Court of Appeal was whether there was any legal basis to even ask for publication to be blocked. There was no claim in negligence as a parent does not owe a child any duty of care in these circumstances. There was no law to prevent Mr A from publishing private information about himself. The Court of Appeal clearly had major concerns and felt that there should be a full hearing. So Mr Downton’s unfortunate joke came to the rescue.

Arden LJ said that the case of Wilkinson v Downton applied. 

Publication of the book is a deliberate act. It is highly likely to harm Mr A’s son. She described this as an obscure tort, but a tort none the less. So publication has been blocked for now, pending a full hearing.

This case raises an issue of great interest to us all. Where is the line between freedom of speech and the protection from harm? Any restriction on freedom of expression must be a concern. The facts of this case of unusual. But could the principle be used in relation to anybody who is likely to be traumatised by somebody else’s work. All that has been decided so far is that there is a right to ask for an injunction. Publication has been stopped for the time being. The final hearing will be watched across the world.

This case also demonstrates the power of our common law system. We do not have all of our laws written down in one place. Courts can look back at decisions made in the past – however distant – and use the legal thinking in a creative way to seek remedies to modern issues.

For those who are interested the full decision is here –

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2014/1277.html