Delay in diagnosis - £500,000 settlement

Stephensons' clinical negligence solicitors acted for a 31-year-old woman who lost sensation in the lower half of her body after a delay in the diagnosis of a slipped disc. The client had originally attended hospital suffering from back pain, with symptoms recorded as numbness and pain along with difficulty in passing water. A doctor examined our client without touching her, and on the basis of an x-ray stated that she still had bladder control so she could be discharged.

 

By the following day she had lost bladder control and was in significant pain, she attended a different hospital and after neurological examinations and x-rays a slipped disc was diagnosed. She then underwent emergency surgery but was subsequently diagnosed as suffering from chronic corda equina syndrome. We were able to achieve a settlement of £500,000 for our client.