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Man Receives $175K After Health Service Failed To Act In Reasonable Time

Case Overview
  • Our client suffered spontaneous deterioration of vision in his left eye.
  • Our client complained to the health service, but they failed to provide a timely referral to the ophthalmologist.  
  • He lost significant vision in his left eye and therefore contacted Gerard Malouf & Partners about a potential medical negligence claim.

Our client had a history of good vision; however, on one occasion, he suffered spontaneous deterioration of vision in his left eye.

For weeks, our client complained to the health service about his deteriorating vision. However, the health service failed to provide a timely referral to an ophthalmologist.  

 

After a significant delay, our client was finally referred by a general practitioner employed by the health service to the local emergency department for urgent ophthalmological review.

 

Our client had suffered a left macula detachment and was immediately taken into surgery for re-attachment of the macula.

 

Following surgery, our client’s left eye vision did not improve, and he was informed that his significant loss of vision in the left eye was permanent.

Our Approach

Jonathon Tannous handled his case and sought and obtained an independent expert opinion on the delay in diagnosing and treating his left eye macula detachment. Gerard Malouf & Partners obtained an independent expert opinion that, had the delay not occurred, our client would have retained good vision in the left eye.

 

It was decided that the best option for our client to reach a positive outcome would be to enter into settlement negotiations between the parties by way of mediation. 

 

At Gerard Malouf and Partners, we pride ourselves on assisting those who are mistreated, misdiagnosed, and inadequately cared for by the health system. We are highly specialised and focused medical negligence lawyers with our firm 

 

The Result

We helped our client negotiate a settlement claim of $175,000

Jonathon Tannous

Senior Associate
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
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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