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Man Compensated with $50,000 for Perforated Bowel Medical Negligence

Case Overview
  • Our client first presented to hospital after an episode of significant stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.
  • On the same night, appendix had perforated causing the development of a pelvic abscess and peritonitis.
  • GMP helped the man get compensation of $50,000 for the medical negligence.

It is reasonable to expect medical practitioners to be able to accurately diagnose and treat your presenting complaints without causing undue delay.

Our client first presented to hospital after an episode of significant stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea. On this occasion, he was discharged and sent home with a script for antibiotics and no other investigations took place. On the same night, our client’s mother awoke to find him convulsing in his room in excruciating pain. Our client was rushed to hospital and underwent an appendicectomy after a 12-hour delay. By this time, our client’s appendix had perforated causing the development of a pelvic abscess and peritonitis requiring a prolonged hospital admission.

“Our client continues to suffer from occasional abdominal pain and discomfort and has suffered psychological sequalae from the incident.”


Our Approach

Our client may require future corrective surgery if he develops intestinal obstruction. GMP received supportive from experts that the hospital failed to diagnose and treat our client in a timely fashion. Our experts say that had our client been appropriately diagnosed with appendicitis during his first admission, he would have had a laparoscopic appendicectomy and recovered without complication. Due to the delay, our client required an open appendicectomy and was monitored in hospital for 8 days.

Overall, we received supportive views that the hospital failed to provide due care and skill to our client. Our client agreed to settlement monies in the sum of $50,000.

As a firm that has a large team that practices exclusively in medical negligence and personal injury cases, we understand how to maximise compensation and have the skills and experience to achieve that. If you, a family member or a friend have been a victim of a medical mistake, feel free to contact Gerard Malouf & Partners on 1800 004 878 to speak to one of our experienced medical negligence lawyers. 

The Result

We were able to obtain a settlement of $50K for our client.

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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