Boyes Turner obtained an admission of liability and compensation settlement for a client who suffered a psychological injury from anaesthetic awareness.
Our client underwent surgery to remove her appendix. The surgery on her appendix was successful but following the operation a negligent failure to flush any remaining anaesthetic drugs through her cannula left some of the muscle relaxant anaesthetic drugs in the cannula. When a nurse flushed the cannula later, our client became unable to breathe but was unable to communicate this to the nursing staff. Her body had become completely paralysed as the anaesthetic muscle relaxant drugs that had been left in the cannula were flushed into her body. Fully conscious but unable to breathe, move or communicate her distress, she believed she was going to die. She blacked out. When she later woke up, she had an oxygen mask over her mouth.
Her frightening experience caused her to suffer psychological symptoms, including anxiety and flashbacks. She also needed treatment with antidepressants.
Our client made a formal complaint to the hospital. She received a letter from the hospital which confirmed that her cannula should have been flushed after the surgery. She asked our medical negligence lawyers to help her make a claim for compensation. We put her claim to the hospital and obtained an admission of liability (fault) and a compensation settlement for our client.
If you have suffered a serious injury as a result of medical negligence and would like to find out more about making a claim, you can talk to one of our specialist solicitors, free and confidentially, by contacting us here.
