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Health Law
Our health team publishes regular health law alerts which summarise the latest cases facing the health industry and the lessons to be learned from each.
Who said insurance isn’t an emotional purchase?
Published December 2011 Psychologist and Nobel prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman was recently interviewed in TIME Magazine. Mr Kahneman, the author of Thinking Fast And Slow, talks of people being blind to their own blindness. “We&rsqu...Read more
In the United States . . .
Published December 2011 Land of the free and seriously high damages awards! On 20 October 2011 Kanawha Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib Junior affirmed a jury verdict in favour of Thomas Douglas, and awarded Mr Douglas $90.5million following the death of ...Read more
Limitation Periods: Whose side is time on?
Published December 2011 On 1 April 2009 an article in the Cairns Post caught the attention of 3 women who had undergone plastic surgery procedures in 2004, 2005 and 2006 with a Cairns surgeon. For each of the women, the article was said to be the cat...Read more
Electronic Health Records – Handle with extreme care
Published December 2011 No matter which side of politics you support, and to the many in the “neither” camp, it is fair to say that the Federal government has had some unfortunate outcomes with the delivery and implementation of, what many see t...Read more
Defective Hip Replacements – Implications for Doctors and Hospitals
Published December 2011 The recall of DePuy metal on metal hip replacements (manufactured by Johnson & Johnson Medical and implanted in approximately 5,500 Australian patients) has been widely publicised. The devices have been found to fail at a ...Read more
State of Queensland v Allen – so, what exactly is a 'medical report'?
Published November 2011 On 4 November 2011 the Queensland Court of Appeal delivered its decision in the much awaited case of State of Queensland v Allen1. Ethan Allen was aged 16 months when he suffered severe brain damage following a medical proce...Read more
Social Media, not Social Medicine
Published: November 2011 Only people beyond a certain vintage would understand the connection between a cassette tape and a pencil. And I suspect that those same people are the target audience for those saying “get with the times” and “...Read more
Sullivan Nicolaides v Papa [2011] QCA 257 – more than just monitoring required
Published: November 2011 A recent decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal confirms that sometimes a pathology service needs to do more than just provide accurate test results. Mrs Papa had been the recipient of an artificial mitral valve. She...Read more
The claimant's specialist report – your first line of defence
Published: November 2011 It might not feel like it for your average medical practitioner, but medical negligence claims are not always easy for claimants to establish at the pre-litigation stage. In Queensland the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act ...Read more
The Bolam Principle – not the be all and end all
Published: November 2011 The Bolam principle for medical negligence cases is codified in section 22 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) as well as other State Civil Liability Acts. It provides that a professional does not breach their duty for th...Read more
In the United States…
Published: November 2011 The most high profile medical negligence case on the global stage has concluded with the criminal trial of Dr Conrad Murray. Dr Murray was found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson. Mr Jackson died of...Read more
Now that's a Health Care System
Published: November 2011 Queensland. Beautiful one day. The Courier Mail running a story on the problems with our public health care system the next. Clearly Queensland is not alone when it comes to health care controversy, with similar problems...Read more
Health Law Newsletter April 2011
To Hold or To Fold? Disclosure of documents in health care claims. Late last year the Queensland Supreme Court gave a wide interpretation to a persons obligation to disclose information and documentation under section 9A(8) of the Personal Injuri...Read more
Courts Must Beware When Medical Opinions Are Split
Published: December 2010 Hawkesbury District Health Service Limited & Anor v Patricia Chaker [2010] NSWCA 320 (25 November 2010) The Facts In early 2003, Patricia Chaker was having problems with varicose veins in both legs. On 3 February 2003,...Read more
Slaveski & Ors v Austin Health [2010] VSC 493
Published: November 2010 The Facts The Victorian Supreme Court has confirmed its inherent jurisdiction to act to protect the life and welfare of an unconscious person. The Court has the duty and power to protect the rights of an unconscious person to...Read more
Wallace v Ramsay Health Care Ltd [2010] NSWSC 518
Published: July 2010 A recent decision of the New South Wales Supreme Court provides some guidance on the extent to which a medical practitioner ought to provide specific and detailed warnings to a patient prior to treatment or surgery. Facts ...Read more
The High Court decision in Tabet v Gett - July 2010
A lost chance for plaintiffs but a save for professional indemnity insurers – the High Court decision in Tabet v Gett [2010] HCA 12 The Facts Reema Tabet was six when she suffered from persistent headaches and vomiting in late December 1990. S...Read more
Granting a Patient's wish to die - Withdrawal Of Medical Treatment
The proceedings were brought by Brightwater Care Group (Inc.), a Perth business providing residential care and rehabilitation for persons with disabilities (Brightwater). Mr Rossiter, 49, was an active bushwalker,Read more
G, PA and C, P v Down
Failure by medical practitioners to provide patients with information on risks based on up to date published medical literature AND to take into account the circumstances of each patient and their ability to comprehend such information exposes a medical practitioner to a risk of malpractice claims and damage to reputation.Read more
Brown v Simpson
The plaintiff underwent surgery for bowel cancer on 14 March 2003 at Gosford District Hospital. The surgery was performed by the first defendant, Dr Simpson. The second defendant,Read more
Wall v Cooper
Wall v Cooper [2008] WASCA 53 The Facts On 21 June 1997 the plaintiff, a paediatrician, was bitten by 2 dogs during a home visit to a patient. The plaintiff was treated by the defendant surgeon, who recommended that the plaintiff have emergency surge...Read more
Wilson v Tier
Wilson v Tier [2008] NSWSC 92 The Facts The defendant, an oral and maxillo-facial surgeon, removed 3 of the plaintiff's wisdom teeth during day surgery on 7 February 2001. The defendant recommended that the plaintiff take Amoxycillin 250mg 3 times pe...Read more
Monument v Baker
Monument v Baker [2007] WADC 164 The Facts On 30 September 1997 at the St John of God Hospital in Murdoch, the plaintiff underwent surgery which involved drainage of a lump on the right side of his neck, and the removal of lymph nodes for a biopsy. T...Read more
Dobler v Halverson & Ors; Dobler v Halverson (by his Tutor)
Dobler v Kenneth Halverson & Ors; Dobler v Kurt Halverson (by his Tutor) [2007] NSWCA 335 The Facts On 11 February 2001 Kurt Halverson (the plaintiff) suffered cardiac arrest and hypoxic brain damage, leaving him with catastrophic injuries. On 2 ...Read more
Hegarty v Queensland Ambulance Service
Hegarty v Queensland Ambulance Service [2007] QCA 366 The Facts The plaintiff served as an ambulance officer with the defendant for 15 years. He ceased employment in 1999, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and an obsessive compulsive diso...Read more
Brus v Australian Capital Territory & Anor
Brus v Australian Capital Territory & Anor [2007] ACTSC 83 The Facts The plaintiff was admitted to Canberra Hospital (the hospital) on 23 September1998 for a vaginal hysterectomy. She was admitted as a public patient and had been put down for ele...Read more
Elayoubi BHNF Kolled v Zipser & 2 Ors
Elayoubi BHNF Kolled v Zipser & 2 Ors [2007] NSWSC 587 The Facts The plaintiff was born on 13 October 1984 at the Bankstown Hospital. He was the fifth child born to his mother (TK). The plaintiff suffers from spastic quadriplegia and an intellect...Read more
Hills v State of Queensland
Hills v State of Queensland [2006] QSC 244 The Facts The plaintiff was born at Toowoomba Hospital by emergency caesarean section due to foetal cardiac arrest. He suffered brain damage and subsequently developed the choreo-athetoid form of cerebral pa...Read more
Harriton v Stephens; Waller v James; Waller v Hoolahan
Alexia Harriton and Keeden Waller, the plaintiffs, were born catastrophically disabled.The disabilities in each case were caused by circumstances prior to birth and it was alleged on their behalf that the defendant medical practitioners failed to diagnose the circumstances which resulted in their being born with disabilities.Read more
South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service & Anor v King
The protocol provided specifically for the amount of radiotherapy to be administered, and the dosage and frequency of the two forms of chemotherapy.Read more