A DOCTOR told the High Court yesterday that based on physical examinations he carried out on a bricklayer, headache had been one of the presenting complaints but not the main complaint.
Dr Ray O'Connor, of Kilbranish Drive, Woodview Park, Limerick, was giving evidence in an action in which he and the Mid Western Health Board are being sued by the man's widow, Ms Carmel Collins, of Glenanaar Avenue, Wood view Park, Limerick.
The court was told that while working on a building site on February 20th, 1991, Mr James Collins (42) got a severe headache and visited Dr O'Connor the same day. Dr O'Connor diagnosed a viral infection. He was brought to Limerick Regional Hospital. Mr Collins died six weeks later after he was transferred to a Cork hospital.
Dr O'Connor said he had, in the course of his experience, learned to attach significance to the sudden, acute onset of headache. He got no history of that from the deceased. Mr Collins had complained of cough, aches and pains, headache, malaise and feeling unwell.
He had notated URTI (upper respiratory tract infection). Headache had been one of the presenting complaints, but not the main presenting complaint.
Dr O'Connor said he had totted up how much the late Mr Collins drank - 60 units per week. The recommended upper limit was 20 to 24 per week. His plan indicated a warning for Mr Collins to cut back on alcohol.
There was no treatment for URTI and he did not prescribe medication. There was nothing to concentrate his mind on headache, and looking back on his notes there did not seem to be anything he had missed.
He saw Mr Collins two days later as a result of a call from his wife.
A detailed examination of Mr Collins took place and he was told nothing about sudden acute onset of headaches; if he had been told he would have noted it. It would have alerted him straight, away to a serious cause of the headache. Immediate referral would have been appropriate.
The hearing continues today.