If a surgeon fails to measure up to that standard in any respect (clinical judgment or otherwise) he has been negligent. [1] Society of Advocates of Natal v De Freitas and Another (Natal Law Society Intervening) 1997 (4) SA 1134 (N) at 1174. In ground 6 the plaintiff that the learned judge, in accepting the defendant's expert witnesses, fell into error by failing to take into account the fact that, when giving their evidence, those witnesses were assuming that the first defendant had not deliberately falsified his operation notes and had not lied on oath about his findings at operation. Defreitas v O'Brien (1995) Times 16/2/95, CA. Approving the Bolam test, Lord Scarman said there would inevitably be differences of opinion within the medical profession. In English law the word "substantial" has only appeared in the judgment of Hirst J cited above. A woman P suffered side-effects from an unorthodox medical procedure, and sued the surgeons responsible. MR D BRENNAN QC and MR C UTLEY (Instructed by Kingsley Napley, London, WC2E 9PT) appeared on behalf of Plaintiff/Appellant. Having found that the defendant was making a false record, he continued: Bearing in mind that the first defendant was called upon to answer the charge of falsification in cross-examination before he had heard the evidence of the plaintiff's experts on the issue, the fact that criticism of the second operation, or his decision to perform it, was first made three and a quarter years after the event, and the fact that he was giving evidence on this aspect from recollection after a period of five years, I am left with some unease as to whether such heavy additional comment was justified. De Freitas v O’Brien and Connelly [1995] PIQR P281 2.2 Derrick v Ontario Community Hospital [1975] 47 Cal App 3d 145 3.6 Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100, [1932] AC 562 1.1, 1.2 It was clear that a responsible body of professional opinion would agree that the school had done enough: it could not be a breach of duty to fail to take steps which were unlikely to do much good. - 22 summary of medical? P's vocal cords were damaged (the risk of this being inherent in the operation) and P sued unsuccessfully for damages. As the international team of observers led by Lord Avebury noted in its report on the 1980 election: "The test is the standard of the ordinaryskilled man exercising and professing to have that special skill. Thus, on any basis, the witnesses called were a fair representation of specialists practising in that field. Bradford-Smart v West Sussex CC (2002) Times 29/1/02, CA. 2. The risk of such injuries could have been reduced had P been given certain relaxing drugs before the treatment: the medical profession was divided as to whether such drugs should be given. Once you create your profile, you will be able to: Claim the judgments where you have appeared by linking them directly to your profile and maintain a record of your body of work. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books you've read. C's wife became pregnant after C's vasectomy reversed itself naturally, an event which occurs once in about 2000 cases, and C sued the surgeon D for his failure to warn of this risk. The issues were not “so inextricably interwoven as to make it logically impossible to find negligence without also finding proximate cause” (Rubin v. Leading Case: Bolam v. Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957] 1 WLR 582 Doctors should be judged by whether they have acted in accordance with other skilled doctors (notwithstanding they may be contrary views) MR P ASHWORTH QC and MR T COGHLAN QC (Instructed by Hempsons, WC2E 8NH) appeared on behalf of the First Defendant/Respondent. The learned judge treated the accuracy of the post-operative note as affecting the defendant's credibility. The conclusions and opinions of the first defendant's pre-operative decision for further surgery was justified, did not depend upon an assumption by them that the post-operative note was accurate. De Freitas v O'Brien and Connolly (1995) 6 Med LR 108 COURT OF APPEAL Lord Justice LEGGATT, Lord Justice SwintonTHOMAS, and Lord Justice OTTON. p.169 Crouchman v. Burke (1997) 40 BMLR 163. p.178 Cull v. Royal Surrey County Hospital (1932) 1 BMJ 1195. p.159 Davis v. Barking, Havering and Brentwood Health Authority [1993] 4 Med LR 85. p.192 De Freitas v. O’Brien [1995] 6 Med LR 108, CA. He also cited the decision of the Supreme Court of Ireland in Dunn v National Maternity Hospital [1989] IR 91. Newell v Goldenberg (1995) 6 Med LR 371, Mantell J. Please log in or sign up for a free trial to access this feature. See Hickman, above n 73, ch 6, for a detailed consideration of proportionality. The plaintiff did not suffer from radicular pain between 15 July and 26 August 1988; ie pain emanating from nerve roots in the spine and radiating down the nerves. what happned in Defreitas v. O’Brien [1995]? A woman P suffered side-effects from an unorthodox medical procedure, and sued the surgeons responsible. cause of the harm and the action fails. However, Mr Ashworth is understandably concerned about the effect upon the reputation of a distinguished surgeon in the light of the judge's further comment. Medical treatment is clearly a "skilled activity", and the principles above apply in this area. Mr John Webb is an orthopaedic surgeon whose training included a post at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry. It is not sufficient to raise the Bolam defence by resorting to such a small number. D said in evidence that he did normally give such a warning but by an oversight had not done so on this occasion; however, since many surgeons did not warn of this risk, he had inadvertently been following the practice of a substantial body of responsible medical opinion. Finally, Mr Brennan submits that the learned judge erred in finding that the declared view of the first defendant's expert witnesses that it was permissible to operate on the spine in the absence of any such indications other than radicular pain, was a responsible medical opinion. On this analysis I cannot accept the proposition that the learned judge found either expressly or by implication that the plaintiff was not suffering from radicular pain. If it appears from the evidence that the body of medical opinion relied upon by the defendant is both very small and diametrically opposed in its views to the conventional views of the vast majority of medical practitioners, the court should be vigilant in carrying out its duty to test whether the body of medical opinion relied upon by the defendant is a "responsible" body. Neither the accuracy of the note nor the judge's finding of falsity was determinative of any of the issues that the judge had to decide. 3. 16. A girl claimed compensation for psychiatric injuries caused by bullying on the estate where she lived and on the bus to and from school. 1. This led to the development of arachnoiditis. Defreitas v O’Brien and Another: CA 16 Feb 1995 A small number of doctors can constitute responsible medical opinion. Hatcher v Black (1954) Times 2/7/54, Denning J, A woman P suffered side effects from an operation on her throat, and sued the surgeon concerned. 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