Question

Question 1

Raj is a junior doctor working at Hatford Hospital, part of the West Hertfordshire NHS Trust. Late one night, Raj is working on a quiet ward when Adi, a young man of 24 years of age is transferred from the HDU (High Dependency Unit) following treatment after a serious road accident. 

Once Adi is on the ward, he appears to be recovering well when, in the early hours of the morning, he suffers a cardiac arrest*. Raj rushes to revive Adi himself but, he suffers serious and irreversible brain damage. Raj is devastated by the events and decides to leave medicine altogether. It transpires that Dr Karim, a more senior doctor needed the space in HDU and, decided to transfer Adi to a general ward prematurely.

Advise Adi’s family who seek your advice as they believe Raj and Dr Karim have been negligent.

*where the heart stops beating

Question 2

For many years, Nadia has suffered from a painful back and recently sought advice from Dr Khan, a consultant neurosurgeon at Hatford Hospital. He recommends surgery but does not advise her of the 1:5,000 risk of paralysis associated with the surgery, even where the surgery is carried out correctly. When Nadia asked Dr Khan about any risks, he replied ‘my patients never have problems’ and, did not discuss her treatment in any significant detail.  

Post operatively, Nadia suffers from irreversible paralysis in her right leg, which is devastating for her, as she is a single mother of 3 children.  Moreover, one of her friends with a similar back problem has recently had physiotherapy and her condition is much improved. Nadia would have considered this option, had Dr Khan advised her of physiotherapy as an option to surgery. 

She believes that Dr Khan has breached his duty of care. Please advise Nadia.

Referencing

 

All quotations from or use of other writers’ work must be properly referenced – that is, you must give the author, title, and date of publication of the work concerned, and the page or section number of the passage quoted or cited. Reference style should remain consistent throughout each submitted essay.

 

For Law modules, your coursework answer should be properly referenced using the OSCOLA Referencing System.

 

You should include a full bibliography/references list at the end of your work.

 

Resources

 

You should make good use of library resources as part of your research to find relevant cases, legislation and authoritative commentary such as monographs and journal articles.

 

Many of these will be available in the academic and legal databases such as LexisLibrary and Westlaw, but you will also find print and ebooks in Library Search

 

Link to Legal resources page – https://www.studynet2.herts.ac.uk/ptl/common/LIS.nsf/lis/law

Answer 1

Ans 2:
The case describes Nadia, a single mom of 3 children. She suffered from back pain for many years and sought advice from Dr. Khan, a neurosurgeon. Although he recommends surgery for her back, he mentions the risk of getting paralyzed post-surgery even after if the procedures are done correctly. But Dr. Khan assures Nadia that none of his patients had any problems with all his patients who have undergone surgery.

The conditions that require attention are below:

-Before the surgery, Dr. Khan did not explain the procedure to Nadia, i.e., what would be done pre-operation and what areas in the spine would-be operated on, etc. By this, Dr. Khan has failed to follow the professional code of conduct in his duty to Nadia.

-Although the risk rates for the surgery are minimal, the condition would be disabling. The doctor who has the experience and typically acknowledges the deadly risk continues for the surgery. He could have advised a more affordable and convenient mode of therapy, which could have saved Nadia.

-The doctor did not mention alternate forms of therapy such as physiotherapy or drug therapy. Dr. Khan advises surgery as the last and final treatment option.

After surgery, Nadia suffers irreversible paralysis of her root leg. We can term 'medical negligence' as the main cause as the procedure resulted in additional harm to Nadia.

The first step which could help Nadia to seek help from the Medical Council where she can file a complaint in the consumer court against Dr. Khan, which ensures that the rights of Nadia are protected. Nadia can opt for the lawsuit to help her with the court proceedings if she can afford the court expenses. She can also take help from a patient-advocate for any advice regarding the steps to be taken.

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