Due to a pre-existing condition, our client underwent surgery in a major teaching hospital in NSW. When she woke up following the surgery, she informed the attending nurses and doctors that “something didn’t feel right”. While she knew that she would be in pain following surgery, she also trusted her instincts and kept raising with attending nurses and doctors that something just felt wrong. In the days following surgery, her condition continued to deteriorate; she was not recovering. Despite this, our client was informed that she was okay. It was not until our client started to show signs of sepsis that any investigations were conducted. Those investigations revealed that our client had, in fact, suffered not only a perforated bowel, but her spleen had been sliced during the surgery.
Our client required emergency surgery to repair the perforated bowel and removal of her spleen. Our client was unable to work as a result of the surgery for a number of months and was looking at a life long issue due to the loss of her spleen.
We successfully settled this matter, despite fierce opposition from the defendant. One of the surprising assertion by the defendant hospital was that the “cut” to the spleen was a “normal” risk of surgery, even though the surgery. Despite this, we were able to recover damages for our client for her lost wages and need for ongoing treatment.
