An interesting recent development with the potential to increase the damages for which negligent health professionals (and so their medical indemnity insurers and medical defence organisations) will be liable, is the apparently growing trend by our WA public hospitals of classifying patients as “compensable.”  This then permits (or at least it is claimed to permit) the hospital/health department to charge commercial rates for the provision of its medical services. There is considerable mystery as to how…

Ellis v East Metro Health Service [2018] WADC 91 I read with interest the latest instalment in Judge Gething’s decisions in relation to this contentious birth injury case.  The substantive decision in the plaintiff’s favour is working its way at present to the Court of Appeal.  It will be interesting to see what our CoA makes of the matter and whether some of the more uncertain issues concerning the CLA are clarified. In this latest…

In the decision Espinos v Popovic published by Judge Braddock on 8 August 2018, the run of successes by plaintiffs in  medical negligence claims continued.  Her Honour awarded damages to Mr Espinos in his claim against deceased neurosurgeon, Emile Popovic, in the sum of $4,817,311. These are very high damages for a claim for negligent care surrounding a spinal fusion operation for a 55-year-old self-employed man, who, it was conceded, was appropriately advised to undergo…

I recently attended the AvMA conference in the UK.  AvMA is one of the UK’s peak bodies in medical negligence (or clinical negligence as they call it), law. I would recommend the conference to anyone working in this area on the patient side.  Although there are inevitable differences, there is considerable overlap and perhaps warning in some aspects, as to where we may head. Ironically, while our Civil Liability legislation continues to cause confusion about the role…

It is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. In the last week or so I have been reminded of this and the forensic usefulness of the modern era of smartphones and particularly phone cameras. In the last week, on 2 entirely separate substantial claims we are investigating, smartphone-based photographs provide compelling evidence as to the condition of the relevant patients, not otherwise evident from the relevant medical records. In the…

I noticed with interest and some concern, recent media attention (see for example and a Herald Sun story in mid-May) concerning the number of Australians travelling to Asia to undergo cosmetic surgery.  According to a recent report, this may be 15,000 patients a year. Concerns have arisen at the costs then borne by Medicare for remedial treatment for patients suffering complications of the procedure overseas.  According to a Monash Uni study, this is almost $13,000…

I today presented a paper at conference providing a review of 10 recent Australian medical law cases since January 2016, which I found interesting. Cases reviewed were: Coote, Bigg, Morocz, Westcott, Martin, Pierce, Sorbello, McManus and Stefanyszyn and Wright. Although only a single Judge decision, I particularly noted the WA District Court Judge Sweeney’s decision in Wright v Minister for Health [2016] WADC 93, which is an interesting [if long] read as to the approach…