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Family Gets $380K for Brother’s Death Due to Medical Negligence

Case Overview
  • Our clients were the siblings of a long-term nursing home resident
  • He suffered a choking incident while eating his breakfast and passed away.
  • GMP was able to settle their matter out of court for $380,000.

The deceased was in his late 60s and had been a long-term resident at a high care disability facility. The deceased had a meal management plan and required assistance to consume his soft-food diet. Contrary to the meal management plan, he was left unattended for a short period of time whilst consuming his morning meal. He began to choke and resuscitative efforts were initiated by the nursing staff. He was taken to hospital while resuscitative efforts continued but passed away.

“The siblings of the deceased all suffered mental distress from the manner of the passing of their brother. ”


Our Approach

Our clients decided to contact Gerard Malouf & Partners to make a claim for the emotional distress, pain and suffering that they had all experienced. We received an opinion from a Nurse who was critical of the nursing staff and their failure to monitor the deceased while consuming his morning meal. This was not disputed by the nursing home.

We also received an opinion from our psychiatrists who diagnosed the siblings as having suffered from mental distress. The extent of their emotional pain was disputed by the nursing home.

The siblings together agreed to a compensation sum in the amount of $380,000. Although the money will not bring back the deceased, it represents an acknowledgement of the pain, grief and loss our clients experience and hopefully provide some closure on this unfortunate incident.

Gerard Malouf & Partners has a strong and knowledgeable team that specializes in nursing home negligence and medical negligence. They can assist you if you are experiencing pain and suffering as a result of the untimely loss of a family member. Call us now on 1800 004 878 to speak to one of our experienced medical negligence lawyers.

The Result

We were able to obtain compensation for our client in the amount of $380,000.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Information

Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that another in the same position would prudently exercise. The harm caused by negligence is considered to be due to carelessness, rather than a specific intent or determination to cause harm.

While negligence can include misconduct in a variety of circumstances, malpractice is reserved for professionals who fall grossly short of their obligations — and harm others in the process. As a result, malpractice is often called “professional negligence”. If a licensed professional (such as a doctor, lawyer, or accountant) fails to provide the accepted standard of care and subsequently causes harm to the plaintiff, this form of negligence may be known as malpractice.

Medical malpractice is specifically used in reference to medical workers who have committed acts of negligence.

Demonstrating that a doctor fell short of their duty of care can be a challenging process. While most doctors try their best to correctly diagnose conditions and provide timely medical treatment, they can’t always be right. In every state, protections are in place to shield practitioners from some litigation. These give practitioners peace of mind on the job and protect hospitals that are doing their best with limited resources. However, these laws also set the bar for receiving compensation incredibly high.

Overall, to win a favorable judgment, you must be able to prove Duty, Breach and Damages.

If you have been injured or an existing condition has got worse following a medical procedure, or even just a visit to the doctor, then you may have been the victim of medical negligence and you may be eligible to make medical negligence claims against the professional who caused your injury.

If you can first show that you have suffered harm, and secondly, that a medical professional failed in their duty of care towards you then you may be entitled to compensation.

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About Us
Gerard Malouf & Partners have provided friendly, experienced legal advice to communities across Australia for over 35 years. Our Personal Injury Lawyers have taken on ten’s of thousands of cases and we are proud to have won billions of dollars for our clients.
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Meet the diverse and dynamic team of compensation lawyers and supporting staff that have made this all happen below. Our multi-lingual team can discuss your claims in Arabic, Assyrian, Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, Serbian, Croatian, Armenian, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi or Malayalam.
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Meet the diverse and dynamic team of compensation lawyers and supporting staff that have made this all happen below. Our multi-lingual team can discuss your claims in Arabic, Assyrian, Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, Serbian, Croatian, Armenian, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi or Malayalam.

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