A father of three and former management consultant who claims he has been left with irreversible brain damage because of negligence in his treatment at St Vincent Private Hospital, Dublin, has taken a High Court action for damages.
David Payne (44), a former management consultant, has sued St Vincents Private Hospital at Herbert Avenue, Dublin and a consultant cardiologist at the hospital, Mr Ken McDonald, over his treatment at the hospital in November 2000. The defendants deny the claims.
Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan was told Mr Payne was a management consultant earning IR£80,000 with bonuses and was considering further promotional prospects at the time of his admission to St Vincents Hospital in November 2000.
It is claimed that the defendants failed to consider that Mr Payne was overdosed with anti coagulants and failed to transfer him to Beaumont Hospital when he had begun to complain of neurological abnormalities on November 29th, 2000.
He was transferred to Beaumont Hospital on December 1st, 2000 where he was operated on.
Opening the case, Mr Declan McCullough SC said Mr Payne was simply given too much of anti clotting medicine at St Vincents and this had caused him to bleed.
A brain scan should have been carried out on November 29th, counsel said. If that showed the bleeding, the administration or certain anti coagulants would have been stopped immediately and steps taken to reverse the effects and Mr Payne would not have suffered the damage he had.
Counsel said the scan was ordered on the night of November 29th but did not take place until the next morning and its result did not come to the notice of any doctor until 2.14pm on November 30th, 2000.
After that, fresh frozen plasma was given to Mr Payne intravenously to rapidly reverse the effects of Clexane and Vitamin K in relation to Warfarin. While this had some effect, Mr Payne had by 11.30pm developed further neurological signs and was trasnferred to the public hospital intensive care unit and then to Beaumont Hospital.
Mr Payne, a father of three children aged from 5 years to 11 years, had suffered severe brain damage and cannot now lead a normal life, counsel said.
The case is expected to last several weeks.