A Dublin woman has claimed that she lost a kidney following an operation for the removal of a kidney stone due to the negligence of a Dublin hospital and a consultant.
Ms Dympna Brady, Herberton Park, Rialto, Dublin has brought a High Court action for damages against St Vincent's Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin, and Mr Daniel Kelly, a consultant urologist.
Ms Brady (44) claims Mr Kelly operated on her on February 3rd, 1987, for the removal of a kidney stone from her right kidney. She later suffered from an infection and pus oozed from a drain exit site. In June 1987, her right kidney was removed.
The hospital and Mr Kelly deny negligence. They also say her claims fail because she signed herself out of hospital against the advice of Mr Kelly some days after the operation.
Mr Terry O'Sullivan SC, for Ms Brady, told the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, they were not making a personal criticism of Mr Kelly in relation to the operation but would argue he was responsible for other medical staff who saw Ms Brady subsequently.
Mr Murray McGrath SC, for the hospital and Mr Kelly, said they were not accepting that Mr Kelly was "vicariously" responsible for other medical personnel.
Mr O'Sullivan said Ms Brady appeared to be making an uneventful recovery but after a week began to get a lot of pain in the chest and was given antibiotics. There was a slight rise in her temperature with some discharge from the site of the drain.
On February 15th, her temperature had gone down and she was anxious to go home. A Dr Greene told her the only reason she was being kept was to keep an eye on a chest infection.
She saw Mr Kelly, who was not too keen on her going home at that time and who told her that if she wanted to leave she would have to sign herself out.
She did that and returned to the hospital the following two days when she received new dressings and was told come back a week later. On February 23rd, she returned to the hospital with a note from her GP to check her out as there was still pus coming from the drain site. A hospital doctor examined her and told her to return the following Tuesday.
A medical expert would give evidence on Ms Brady's behalf that the alarm bells should have been ringing at that stage and that an abscess was building up, counsel said. A week later she again saw the hospital doctor who, according to Ms Brady, did not read the note given to her by her GP. An appointment was made for four weeks later.
She was admitted on March 26th to the hospital with a chest complaint and came under Mr Kelly's care at which stage an abscess had grown on her right kidney. This resulted in kidney failure and subsequently the kidney was removed.
The hearing continues today.