Legal News (Healthcare Law)

The Medical Council recently published its Annual Report for 2014. Aisling Malone of Hayes solicitors summarises the trends in the general profile of the profession and also in the Medical Council’s complaints process.

On 1 May 2015, Judgment was given by Justice Cross of the High Court in a case where a woman, who asked to remain anonymous, brought a claim in relation to a symphysiotomy she underwent at a Dublin hospital in 1963. The woman claimed she suffered life-long pain following the procedure and could not bond with her baby daughter after the birth because she was in such pain.

The Supreme Court has upheld a judgment of the High Court quashing a decision by the Medical Council of Ireland to find a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon, Professor Martin Corbally, guilty of poor professional performance (PPP).

The judgment of Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns in this case represents a significant decision of the High Court regarding costs, and more particularly, the issue of appropriate legal fees. Hayes successfully represented the Defendant in this case.

In a recent Supreme Court Judgment, Ms Justice Laffoy dismissed the appeal of Bridget Doyle, who died before the hearing of her appeal had been concluded, on the grounds that none of the heads of damages in her claim survived her death.

On 22 January 2015, a Dáil Joint Committee on Health and Children looked at the challenge of the rising cost of professional medical indemnity insurance.