Our client’s mother was 32 years of age at the time when she consulted her regular General Practitioner in South West of Sydney to discuss a lump she had recently discovered in her right breast. She consulted the same General Practitioner on numerous occasions and each time her concerns were brushed aside as inconsequential. Not once did the General Practitioner refer her to any specialist, arrange for a follow-up consultation, arrange for a mammogram of other investigative procedure.
Unfortunately, this failure to refer and properly diagnose continued for serval years. Our client’s mother was ultimately diagnosed with breast cancer but at that point it was too late for any effective treatment. Our client lost her mother to breast cancer when she was in year 10 and as a result she suffered severe psychological injury, as a result of this General Practitioner’s medical negligence.
The sudden and unexpected death of the young mother came as a complete shock to our client. The failure to diagnose and ultimately treat her mother’s breast cancer completely devastated our client both emotionally and psychologically. Our client needed to understand what happened and wanted closure so she came to Gerard Malouf & Partners seeking answers.
Gerard Malouf & Partners accepted the challenge of providing this young girl with the answers she so desperately sought. After compiling and examining all relevant medical records and research, Gerard Malouf & Partners were able to determine the death of our client’s mother could have been avoided, had it not been for the General Practitioner’s negligence, namely his failure to investigate, diagnose, or refer. Through extensive investigations and discussions with our experts, Gerard Malouf & Partners were able to establish that the cause of death was directly related to the General Practitioner’s negligence.
After firmly establishing the General Practitioner’s liability for the death of her mother, Gerard Malouf & Partners then had our client consult one of our psychological experts who, after a consultation, was able to determine our client did in fact suffer psychological injury. Our client was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress and Depression. Our client continues to suffer with insomnia, depressed mood, loss of drive and motivation, difficulty focusing and concentrating, and heightened irritability. Our client did not only suffer from this psychological sequelae, but also suffered economic loss as a direct result of the loss of her mother.
After fierce negotiations, Gerard Malouf & Partners were able to negotiate a $140,000 settlement for our client to which she was more than pleased to accept. Our client can now focus solely on bettering her life and learning how to cope without having her mother to guide her.
