ISSUE 53 Expert Witness Journal - Journal - Page 12
Client who Developed a Spinal Infection
Receives Life-changing Damages in
Claim Against GPs and Urgent Care
Centre Who Missed his Diagnosis
PB was an active 49-year-old working as a manual labourer when he sustained a spinal
infection in 2016. This developed into discitis and an abscess, causing spinal cord compression
and permanent injury to his thoracic spine. PB had sought medical advice on four occasions
before receiving the correct diagnosis. He instructed Stewarts to investigate whether he should
have been treated earlier and if he could have avoided his spinal cord injury.
Senior associate Katherine Fitter and paralegal Alina Antony review PB’s case here.
another surgery two months later to stabilise screws that
had been displaced from the first operation.
Background
In the early summer of 2016, PB began to experience
severe back pain between his shoulder blades. He attended his GP surgery on three occasions in a month,
complaining of progressively worse pain. PB had a
history of Hepatitis C and previous intravenous drug
use. He felt his past drug use was a factor in how he
was treated and that his complaints were not taken seriously because of this. He also attended an Urgent
Care Centre seeking out-of-hours treatment but was
sent back to see his GP again.
PB underwent rehabilitation at a specialist spinal unit
for several months but was left with a permanent T11
ASIA D spinal cord injury. He is reliant on walking
sticks or a wheelchair for mobility due to impaired
sensation and strength in his legs, pelvis and lower
trunk. He suffers from neuropathic pain in his lower
rib cage and legs in addition to symptoms of bladder,
bowel and sexual dysfunction.
The legal case
The claim was initially investigated by Aimée Morris,
with Katherine Fitter taking over conduct after court
proceedings had been issued. Expert evidence was obtained, which advised that the GPs and nurse who saw
PB should have considered spinal infection as a diagnosis. Neurosurgery and microbiology experts then
advised that PB would likely have had a better
outcome with earlier diagnosis and treatment.
PB’s condition deteriorated to the point that he had to
move in with his mother for support. Eventually, he
collapsed at his mother’s home and was admitted to
hospital via ambulance. Initially, an abdominal infection was suspected, but a CT scan revealed signs of a
spinal infection, and PB underwent an MRI scan the
next day to confirm this. He was then prescribed IV
antibiotics to treat the infection. Shortly after this, it
was found that PB was developing weakness in his legs
as a consequence of spinal cord compression and was
transferred for urgent spinal surgery at another hospital. The operation decompressed his spinal cord,
removed the infection that had formed an abscess and
added instrumentation to stabilise his spine.
Liability was denied by the defendants on the basis
that diagnosis should not and could not have been
made earlier. They said that even if it had been, the infection would already have caused some damage.
The case almost proceeded to a trial on liability, but
PB elected to accept a compromise settlement at 50%
of damages. This reflected the ongoing areas of
Following surgery, PB was on bed rest for six weeks and
on antibiotics for three months. He had to undergo
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