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Hospital apologises after teenager dies from huge blood loss in routine surgery

A hospital has apologised to the family of a teenager who died after suffering massive blood loss following an injury to her aorta during routine surgery.

Jessica Sheedy (18), from Bruff, Co Limerick, died on May 11, 2018, three days after undergoing the operation to have a benign tumour removed from her abdomen.

An inquest into her death heard that, during the surgery, which was carried out at University Hospital Limerick, she suffered a “significant bleed” and lost seven litres of blood.

A post-mortem examination gave her cause of death as “multi-organ failure secondary to the removal of the tumour”.

Several theatre staff who were assisting Ms Sheedy’s surgeon, Mr Ashish Lal, told how, following the bleed, he refused to act on their repeated calls to seek assistance from vascular consultant surgeons.

Theatre nurse Catherine Browne said she “witnessed a huge gush of blood” “filling up” Ms Sheedy’s abdomen.

She claimed Mr Lal “refused” offers from her to get other surgeons to help him.

Theatre nurse Elaine Lyons said she also asked Mr Lal if he needed help, but “he said no”.

She said she telephoned on-call consultant vascular surgeon Eamon Kavanagh, and told him “we are in trouble in Theatre Six, Mr Lal is refusing help”.

“Mr Lal said he didn’t want any help,” she told the inquest before returning to her seat where she broke down in tears.

Dr Eoin Fahey, who also assisted Mr Lal, said there was “a sudden rush of arterial blood” during the operation, and Ms Sheedy’s blood pressure “dropped rapidly”.

Junior registrar Dr Helen Earley said she also asked Mr Lal “if he needed help, and he said no”.

She added that, if she had been performing the surgery, her “response would have been to call for help from another vascular surgeon, but I was just a junior trainee”.

Mr Kavanagh said “a major transfusion protocol was activated” which involved the team contacting the bloodbank for extra blood. This happened 20 minutes after the “significant bleed”.

About 40 minutes after the bleed, Mr Kavanagh arrived and repaired the aorta.

He said he was “very surprised” to get a call from Ms Lyons, as he “had no prior knowledge” of the surgery.

He agreed it was “usual” that he would have been consulted prior to similar surgeries, and that it would have been usual that vascular surgical support would be arranged to be on standby.

Before reading his deposition into evidence, Mr Lal offered his “deepest sympathy and condolences” to the Sheedy family.

“Not a day has gone by in the last 18 months that I haven’t thought about Jessica,” he said.

Mr Lal said he “could not see where the blood was coming from” and he had concentrated his efforts on removing the tumour, as he felt it was “obscuring” his view of the location of the bleed.

“I think, in hindsight, I would have had a second surgeon scrubbed in surgery,” Mr Lal said.

He also agreed that, in hindsight, he would have “immediately called in” help.

Noreen Spillane, acting chief executive of UL Hospitals Group, apologised “unreservedly for the sorrow and distress caused to Jessica’s family over her untimely death”.

Recording a verdict of medical misadventure, Coroner John McNamara said there had been “missed opportunities” in the teenager’s care.

Irish Independent

A partygoer who allegedly fell when he stayed at a colleague’s house after an office night out has settled his High Court action for €550,000.

Edmund O’Shea (61), of Ballitore, Athy, Co Kildare, suffered a head injury and was left with a serious and permanent disability in the incident in December 2012.

He sued Eithne Hobbs, the work colleague in whose home he stayed, and David Doyle, who also attended the office party and stayed at the house afterwards.

It was claimed in court that Mr O’Shea was intoxicated and others thought that he was sleeping off the effects of drink when he was found at the bottom of the stairs in the hallway of the house.

Ms Hobbs claimed she was not liable for any alleged injury sustained during the hospitality shown to what she alleged was a drunken fellow worker who had been offered a bed for the night.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross, approving the settlement, noted it was only one-tenth of the full value of the case.

It was claimed that there was a failure to call an ambulance or other medical assistance following Mr O’Shea having fallen at Ms Hobbs’s home in Riverchapel Close, Courtown Harbour, Gorey, Co Wexford.

There was also an alleged failure to note he was unconscious, bleeding from the head and seriously injured. He further claimed there was a failure to take proper care of him and that he was in an intoxicated state when he arrived at Riverchapel Close.

Mr Doyle, in his defence of the action, denied the claims and alleged that considerable amounts of alcohol were consumed at the work party.

Mr Doyle claimed when he got up the next morning at the house, he found Mr O’Shea at the bottom of the stairs and he believed he was “sleeping off” the effects of the alcohol consumed the previous evening.

Mr Doyle and Ms Hobbs, it was claimed, were under pressure to leave to go to work but Ms Hobbs was reluctant to leave Mr O’Shea alone in her residence.

Mr O’Shea, it was claimed, having failed to wake up, was placed in his car outside the house so that when he woke up he could drive home.

Ms Hobbs claimed that she remained genuinely concerned for the welfare of Mr O’Shea and checked with a neighbour if he had driven away.

She claimed she then contacted Mr O’Shea’s work manager, who went to the house and Mr O’Shea was transferred to hospital.

Mr O’Shea later underwent a craniotomy.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Cross said it was a “close to hopeless case from a legal point of view”.

He added that the legal teams had done well to get the settlement.

Irish Independent

A WOMAN who lost a €60,000 injury claim after she was filmed jogging says too many people are taking civil cases in Ireland.

Esther Lamidi (35) had her Circuit Civil Court action thrown out two years ago after a judge said she had “not just exaggerated her complaints but was telling blatant lies” in her case against Zurich Insurance and motorist John Lowry following a car crash in Dublin city centre.

Independent.ie for full story

All six people who sued a driver they said injured them in a rear-ending each lose their claims for €60k

SIX people who brought personal injury claims of €60,000 each against a driver, have been unsuccessful in their claims after five last-minute refusals and a dismissal.

They had each sued Pauline Kavanagh, who had addresses at Clonmore, Ballingar, Tullamore, Co Offaly, Rhyl in Wales and in Manchester, whose car, during a period of residence in Ireland, rear ended another vehicle.

The personal injury claims, which amounted to a total of €360,000, had been brought against her and Allianz by Lisa Kavanagh (31) and Martin Kavanagh (43) – both with addresses in Heyscroft Road, Withington, Manchester – as well as Sinead Kelly (43) and Patrick Geoghegan – both with addresses at Corballis Demesne, Ashbourne Road, Ratoath, Co Meath – and John Jason McDonagh (38), of Church View, Tullamore.

The claims by all five were withdrawn prior to the hearing of the sixth claim by Judge Mary O’Malley Costello in the Circuit Civil Court. Judge O’Malley Costello dismissed the sixth claim, of Peter O’Connell (47) Cherry Orchard, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10.

All six had claimed they had been injured in a rear-ending accident on the Ashbourne to Dublin Road on September 23, 2014.

Barrister John Martin, who appeared with John Carroll of Crowley Millar Solicitors, for Allianz and Pauline Kavanagh, led a detailed cross-examination of Peter O’Connell about how, where and when the accident had occurred.

Judge O’Malley Costello, dismissing O’Connell’s claim with costs in favour of Allianz Ireland, said he had not been able to recall a lot. He had a number of medical issues which he had not clarified in his evidence about what she described as a minimal-impact collision.

The judge said his injuries had not been supported by the medical evidence before the court. No orders were made in the five cases which had earlier been withdrawn.

Following the case in the Circuit Civil Court, Trim, Co Meath, the CEO of Allianz Ireland, Mr Sean McGrath, said he was delighted with the outcome which, he claimed, vindicated the company’s zero tolerance stance with plaintiffs who may have made exaggerated claims.

He said that last year Allianz had challenged more than 1,500 claimants in the courts and each case the insurance company had won had delivered an average saving of €20,000 per claimant.

Irish Independent

Former burger restaurant manager denies stealing €1,000 from his work

A FORMER burger restaurant manager has denied stealing more than €1,000 in cash from his workplace over the course of three days.

Eduards Babinjans (32) pleaded not guilty to stealing the money last year and is facing trial by judge and jury.

Judge David McHugh adjourned the case against him at Blanchardstown District Court for the preparation of a book of evidence.

Mr Babinjans, of The Maltings, Dublin 8, is charged with three counts of theft.

It is alleged he stole the money from Gourmet Burger in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Clondalkin, on three consecutive days last year.

He is accused of stealing €26.80 on May 22, €61.88 the next day and €920 the day after that.

The accused entered a not guilty plea.

When a date for the hearing was to be fixed, his lawyer told the court the accused was opting for jury trial.

The DPP had consented to the case being dealt with at district court level and a judge had already accepted jurisdiction, but the charge is one in which the accused has the right to choose a trial in the circuit court instead.

Mr Babinjans will be sent forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court when the book of evidence is ready.

Sgt Maria Callaghan previously said the accused was the manager in Gourmet Burger at the time of the alleged offences.

It was alleged he stole money on three occasions, totalling €1,008.

An order for disclosure of prosecution documents to the defence was previously made by the court.

Free legal aid was granted after a statement of Mr Babinjans’s financial means was submitted.

Irish Independent

Virgin to take action against Eir over new TV service

Internet and television provider Virgin Media is preparing for a High Court showdown with rival operator Eir.

The dispute centres on the inclusion of Virgin Media’s free-to-air television channels on Eir’s new Apple TV 4K set- top box, which was launched last week.

Virgin has claimed the channels were included in the newly revamped service without its approval, but it is understood Eir does not believe approval was needed.

Legal proceedings were initiated by Virgin Media Television Limited against Eircom Limited in the High Court on Tuesday.

In a statement to the Irish Independent, a spokesperson for Virgin Media said: “Eir’s insistence to include Virgin Media Television channels on their new Apple TV service, without prior approval, has left us with no other option but to issue legal proceedings to protect our rights and the rights of our content providers.”

An Eir spokesman said it could not comment as the matter is before the courts.

Virgin Media is being represented by heavyweight Dublin law firm Mason, Hayes and Curran in the matter.

The disagreement came to light within days of Eir formally announcing it would be using Apple TV boxes.

The announcement was accompanied by new offers which are expected to spark a price war with rival providers. According to an industry source the nub of the dispute is whether the new Eir TV product should be considered a television service or an “over the top” offering like Netflix and other similar streaming services.

It is understood Eir believes its new service should be considered a traditional television service, meaning Virgin would be obliged by regulations to allow its free-to-air channels to be carried.

However, it is thought the opposite view has been taken by Virgin.

The case is set to be mentioned before the fast-track commercial wing of the High Court early next month.

Further details are expected to be outlined then.

The row is not the first time that Virgin and Eir have clashed.

In 2016 Virgin Media decided to no longer carry Eir Sport (formerly Setanta Sports) and BT Sport channels due to a disagreement over the cost of carrying the then newly branded Eir Sport channels.

However, Virgin and Eir did agree a deal last August to carry each other’s sports channels. This gave Eir subscribers access to Virgin Media Sport and Virgin subscribers access to Eir Sport 1.

Irish Independent

Receptionist fired after ‘screaming’ at client and sending them threatening emails awarded €3,520 damages

A RECEPTIONIST at a commercial vehicle testing centre has been awarded €3,520 in compensation for unfair dismissal.

The woman was sacked after sending threatening emails and texts to a customer and his wife.

An adjudication hearing of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was told the receptionist had been employed at the centre for three years when she had a row with a customer over unpaid bills.

Her employer said he was present on one occasion when she “screamed and roared” at the customer, who she had called a “disgrace” for not paying his bills.

Debt collection had nothing to do with her responsibilities, he added.

The WRC heard the woman had sent threatening emails and text messages to the customer and his wife, copies of which were produced at the adjudication hearing.

In an effort to resolve the situation, her employer asked her to stay away from the customer.

He also persuaded the customer’s wife not to report the matter to gardai.

However, the receptionist insisted on receiving an apology and said she would leave if the business continued to deal with the individual, maintaining that it was he who had abused her.

In her decision, WRC adjudication officer Gaye Cunningham noted there was a conflict of evidence as to whether the worker had resigned or been dismissed.

The woman claimed her employer had given her a lift home last November 5 and told her another worker had threatened to quit because of her, and it was “easier to replace a receptionist than a vehicle tester”, so she was dismissed.

She received a letter the following day, noting that she had resigned from her job and that the employer had accepted her resignation.

A cheque for €2,000 was enclosed.

Ms Cunningham said she had “some sympathy” for the employer, who had been faced with such hostility between his employee and the customer.

However, she accepted the evidence of the receptionist that she had been dismissed, noting the absence of any letter of resignation.

She said this dismissal had taken place without due process.

“Given the unpleasant circumstances of the complainant’s threatening emails, I find she contributed somewhat to the situation,” she said.

She ordered the centre to pay compensation of €3,520 for unfair dismissal and €880 as she was entitled to the statutory minimum notice of two weeks.

Irish Independent

Van owner faces €25k in fines for more than 1,100 M50 toll dodging trips

TWENTY-TWO motorists were hit with fines totalling €205,000 today after they failed to turn up to court accused of M50 toll dodging.

Des Long, of Rathsallagh Park, Shankill, Dublin, came to his hearing and faced allegations of 1,139 unpaid trips on the motorway since he bought his new van last December.

He told Judge Anthony Halpin at Dublin District Court that he had already paid €7,500 to the sheriff over outstanding tolls, however, it emerged this amount related to another vehicle he had.

The court heard he had been sent 4,417 reminder letters over the motorway charges in his new van which incurred a toll of €5.30 each time he used the M50.

He is being prosecuted on five sample counts.

In court, Mr Long insisted he had been trying to deal with eFlow which operates barrier free tolling on the M50 for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

He claimed he reached an agreement over all his toll issues, “I was clearing my name, not my vehicles”.

However, Judge Halpin noted from the prosecution’s evidence that the money he had paid so far related to a different van and not his new one, the subject of the proceedings in court today.

He told him he had delayed the matter and warned he now faced the possibility of receiving fines totalling €25,000. “You should not be using the toll if you are not going to pay, you continued to use it,” Judge Halpin added.

Mr Long’s case was adjourned until a date in January.

Some 42 motorists had been summonsed to appear in court today.

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Prosecutions against 22 of them went ahead in their absence resulting in hefty fines, scaled by Judge Halpin to reflect the amount of unpaid tolls in each case.

Most had records of between 100 and 200 unpaid trips. Thousands of warning letters were sent to the motorists but the majority did not reply, the court was told.

One private car owner had a history of 373 trips without paying. He had been sent 1,119 letters, and was fined €15,000 today.

Among them were five commercial vehicle owners, three of them were fined €15,000 and two of them were ordered to pay €10,000.

Most cases involved five sample counts.

Prosecuting counsel Thomas Rice BL (instructed by Pierse Fitzgibbon Solicitors) said a TII official had certificates of ownership as well as the images of the vehicles passing the toll gantry on the M50, on dates from February until the end of April.

On top of the fines which have to be paid within six months, vehicle owners were ordered to pay up to €350 in prosecution costs.

Fines of up to €5,000 per charge as well as a sentence of up to six months can be imposed.

The court has heard the motorway authority only selected habitual non-payers to face criminal proceedings but no one has been jailed so far.

Fourteen motorists had cases adjourned today to allow TII to engage further with them. Five others got strike outs after resolving their debt with the motorway operator.

The standard M50 toll for an unregistered private car is €3.10 must be paid before 8pm the following day or else there is a €3.00 penalty for missing the deadline. Motorists have 14 days from the date of issue to pay for the journey and the initial penalty; otherwise a further penalty of €41 is applied. After a further 56 days there is an additional penalty charge of €103 and if it remains unpaid legal proceedings follow with the possibility of a court fine of up to €5,000 as well as a jail term of six-months, or both, per offence.

Commercial and goods vehicle owners have to pay higher tolls.

The registered owner of a vehicle is responsible even if they were not driving the vehicle.

Irish Independent

Boy who fell off bike and cut lip after allegedly hitting pot hole awarded €65,000 damages

A BOY who injured his lip when he fell off his bike after the front wheel allegedly hit a pot hole has settled his High Court action for €65,000.

Malcolm Akpaka, who was then eight years old, was cycling in Cruise Park Close in Tyrrelstown, Dublin on July 14 2011 when it is claimed his front wheel hit the pothole which was one foot deep.

Mr Justice Garret Simons fell off his bicycle and suffered a deep laceration to his upper lip.

He was taken to hospital and had to have stitches to the lip and has now been left with a scar.

Malcolm Akpaka (now aged 16) Cruise Park Drive, Tyrrelstown,Dublin had sued Fisher Property Management Ltd, Main Street, Ongar, Dublin and Tyrrelstown No 8 Management Company Ltd care of Fisher Property Management, which were responsible for maintenance of the estate common area and Earthwood Ltd, The Plaza, Tyrrelstown, Dublin, which constructed the roads in the estate over the accident.

The accident was on a road way with a cobblelock footway  and the pothole it was claimed was between the cobblelock and the tarmacadam.

The claims were denied by all three defendants and the court heard that liability was at issue  between the defendants.

 Mr Justice Simons said he was satisfied to make an order ruling the settlement. The settlement is without an admission of liability.

Irish Independent

Woman who claimed more than €44,600 of her partner’s pension after his death avoids jail

A WOMAN who claimed more than €44,600 of her partner’s pension for four years after he died has been given a suspended three-and-a-half year sentence.

Geraldine Doyle (63) was nominated to collect the pension of her partner, who suffered from dementia and Parkinson’s disease, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday.

However, when her partner died in 2012, his death was not registered and Doyle continued to collect his €200 weekly pension for a further four years.

Doyle, of The Village, Porterstown, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to four sample counts of theft from the Department of Social Protection between October 5, 2012 and July 14, 2016.

She stole a total of €44,652 from the State, Gda Eimhear Keeshan told the court.

At the time, Doyle was in receipt of other social welfare payments, including rent allowance, the court heard.

The crime came to light when a worker in the Department of Social Welfare noticed Mr Gunne’s death had not been registered until 2016. Doyle had no previous convictions.

John Moher, defending, said his client suffered from serious stomach issues and has had a number of surgeries in recent years.

He said Doyle, a mother-of-three and a grandmother, also suffered from mental health problems and was “overwhelmed with self-loathing” at her offending.

Doyle repaid a sum of €10,000 to the department this week and has agreed to pay €150 a week to pay off the remaining money.

Irish Independent