Our Medical Negligence team has secured compensation for a man who suffered a brain haemorrhage following surgery.
In January 2008 our client was admitted to hospital to undergo surgery to remove a brain tumour (meningioma). This operation was a success but our client was admitted to hospital within a fortnight of his surgery and was diagnosed as suffering a deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, an unfortunate complication of his operation.
From March 2008 the decision was made to put our client on a lifelong course of Warfarin, a type of anti-coagulant medication (medicines that prevent blood clots) which helps avoid thrombosis. However, clinical guidelines gave no support for this course of treatment.
Unfortunately, in December 2009 an MRI showed a recurrence of the brain tumour. Our client underwent a further surgical excision of the brain tumour in May 2010, after which he was prescribed Warfarin in addition to Clexane, another anti-coagulant drug. Within a fortnight of this operation he suffered an intra-cerebral haemorrhage (blood suddenly bursting into brain tissue), which required emergency surgery to remove the haematoma and clot.
Our specialist team secured expert medical evidence which helped to prove that the decision to administer both Warfarin and Clexane to our client had increased the likelihood of him experiencing a post-operative haemorrhage, and that this haemorrhage had caused permanent and significant neurological injury.
Following the brain haemorrhage, our client began to experience panic attacks and reduced mobility which has lead to a loss of confidence. He had to leave his job, and he was left with poor short term memory. He is now reliant on his family to help with tasks such as cooking and dressing, and due to his attention span he now finds it difficult to maintain a conversation for a long period of time.
Working with our client, we managed to secure a settlement of £450,000. As our client had suffered a brain injury, this settlement needed to be approved by a Judge, who ruled that the settlement represented a fair outcome for our client, and would assist him in paying for the care and treatment he now requires.
Our client was represented by Rosalie Reading, a solicitor in our Medical Negligence department in Birmingham. Rosalie said: "This settlement will make a huge difference to our client's quality of life. It will provide the means for the family to move to more suitable accommodation which in turn will enhance our client's independence and make life easier for the family as a whole."
After his settlement had been reached, our client said, "I would like to thank you and our barrister for all of your hard work in our case. It has been a long journey for us all but we had a good outcome in the end. It has made life easier knowing we have some money behind us for the future. Many thanks for all your help and support over the years."
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