£1.5 million secured for man left severely disabled following routine shoulder surgery

Sandra Patton, head of the medical negligence team at Ashtons Legal, has secured over £1.5 million in compensation for a man who was left severely disabled following surgery to his shoulder.

Mr F had been experiencing shoulder discomfort, caused by an inflammation of a tendon. A common treatment for such pain is an operation that involves widening the space around the tendon in order to ease its movement.

Mr F was undergoing keyhole surgery to alleviate this problem, when an unnoticed episode of low blood pressure occurred under general anaesthesia, resulting in a reduced blood oxygen level, including, critically, the amount of oxygen reaching his brain.

Tragically, this has left Mr F with permanent brain damage and a significantly reduced life expectancy. He now requires full time care at a nursing home.

The compensation achieved by Sandra will cover the cost of Mr F’s immediate and future needs for the rest of his life.

Sandra comments: “It is particularly tragic when a routine operation, expected to have a rapid and positive effect on someone’s daily life, results in such catastrophic loss. Compensation will never make up for that loss or restore the injured person and their family to the position they were in but it is vital in order to give the best quality of life possible in these terrible circumstances, and to allow the client to live a safe and dignified life.”