Baby K was born on 22 July 2017 with cortical dysplasia in the left hemisphere of his brain. As a consequence, K suffers from a form of epilepsy that is unresponsive to medication. He has spent 10 of his 12 months of life in Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in...
Health Blog
Doctor denied procedural fairness by Tribunal
Proceedings had been commenced in the Tribunal by the Medical Board alleging a breach of professional boundaries, sexual misconduct, misleading entries in clinical notes and making false statements to AHPRA and the Board. Following conferral between the parties, a...
No obligation on Tribunal to make all or any combination of protective orders available
Following the making of findings of professional misconduct against a registered nurse who had commenced a sexual relationship with a patient under his care in a psychiatric facility, the nurse consented to a package of orders which included (1) cancellation, (2)...
Hospital, obstetrician sued for negligence after stillbirth of baby
Background On 13 January 2011, KS was admitted to Calvary Private Hospital. She was a patient of Dr Foote, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, and was pregnant with her first child. By 13 January 2011 the baby was one week overdue and it had been agreed that KS would...
Peer professional opinion and irrationality
In South Western Sydney Local Health District v Gould [2018] NSWCA 69, the NSW Court of Appeal overturned the District Court decision in which the appellant had been found liable in negligence for the treatment of an 8 year old boy’s open fracture to his left thumb –...
GP Obstetrician’s conduct not widely accepted practice
Background At 8:25am on 24 August 2009, Cooper’s mother was induced and progressed normally until she reached full dilatation at 8:40pm. There had been no recorded foetal head movements from 4:30pm, and there was clinical evidence of disproportion between the foetal...
Competent professional practice does not require evidence of “a practice”
In Sparks v Hobson; Gray v Hobson [2018] NSWCA 29, the Plaintiff suffered from Noonan Syndrome, a genetic disorder that prevents normal development in various parts of the body. Due to this disorder, his ability to fill his lungs with air, and hence to breathe, was...
Inexact evidence on causation sufficient to demonstrate material contribution
The Plaintiff suffered from epilepsy from six years of age. In 2010, at the age of 20, the Plaintiff underwent electroencephalographic monitoring, a telemetry testing procedure requiring sleep deprivation and the withdrawal of medication to induce a seizure to...
Notifiable Data Breach scheme commences
From 22 February 2018, the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme will apply to all agencies and organisations with existing personal information security obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act). All private sector health and aged care organisations are...
Liability of hospital for actions of a misbehaving patient
A B v Australian Capital Territory [2018] ACTSC 18 is a decision of the Supreme Court of the ACT which considers the liability of a hospital following the abuse and assault of the plaintiff by another patient who was affected by, at least, alcohol and admitted to the...