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Woman Gets $1,300K Settlement in Against Neurosurgeon Medical Negligence

Case Overview
  • Following our client’s cervical spine surgery, she was unable to move her arms and leg.
  • She was suffering from undiagnosed post-operative cord compression.
  • GMP was successfully able to settle the case for $1,300,000 for our client.

Our client suffered from very severe consequences following the Defendant’s failure to adequately examine, investigate, diagnose, treat, and manage her health and cervical spine condition, particularly after cervical spine surgery.

In the post-operative setting following our client’s cervical spine surgery, our client was unable to move her arms and leg, and could not independently use the bathroom, handle a phone or eat. Our client complained to the Defendant about increased weakness affecting her limbs following cervical surgery, and the Defendant was aware of the onset of our client’s neurological functional decline.

“Despite this, the Defendant failed to promptly refer the Plaintiff on for an MRI of the cervical spine to determine whether there was any time-critical and treatable pathology requiring urgent surgery.”


Keegan Behrens
Our Approach

In our client’s case, she was suffering from undiagnosed post-operative cord compression, which meant that her decompressive surgery was significantly delayed. As a result of the Defendant’s failure to investigate, diagnose, treat, and manage our client’s post-operative cord compression in a timely manner, our client has since been left with chronic spinal pain, quadriparesis, permanent spinal cord injury, bladder dysfunction, back pain, loss of function of limbs, intractable neuropathic pain and psychiatric sequalae.

At Gerard Malouf & Partners, we pride ourselves on assisting those who are mistreated, mis-diagnosed and inadequately cared for by the health system. We are highly specialised and focused medical negligence lawyers with our firm being small enough to care intimately for our clients, but large enough to have the solid, financial, medical and expert resources our clients need to match the big insurers, we fight every day.

For free over the phone advice or to take advantage of our free face-to-face consultation call Gerard Malouf and Partners on 1800 004 878 and ask to speak with one of our experienced medical negligence lawyers.

The Result

We were successfully able to settle the case for $1,300,000, which included extensive past and future out-of-pocket expenses, past and future economic loss and our client’s need for domestic care and assistance.

Keegan Behrens

Associate
It is with much pleasure and respect I forward this letter of appreciation to you to commend the services for an outstanding solicitor in Keegan Behrens. Without going into all the unfortunate circumstances, I take this opportunity to sincerely thank Keegan and his team for assisting my wife through the toughest time in her life following on from a medical negligence claim.
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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