Courts

‘It was just elective surgery’: Family of woman who died following surgery by trainee surgeons tell court hospital apology means very little

An apology from St Vincent’s Hospital was read out in court as the family of Freda Fox (76) settle their High Court action over her death six years ago

The children of Freda Fox settled for €200,000 a High Court action over her death six years ago

Fri Jan 12 2024 - 13:32

St Vincent’s University Hospital has apologised in the High Court to the family of a 76-year-old woman who died after losing 17 litres of blood during a complex surgery.

The Whipple procedure was carried out on Freda Fox, a grandmother and mother-of-six, by two trainee surgeons at the Dublin hospital.

The apology was read out in court as the six Fox children settled for €200,000 a High Court action over her death six years ago.

The family’s counsel, Doireann O’Mahony BL, told the court that Ms Fox believed she was “in the best hands” for the pancreatic surgery which is carried out in cases of suspected cancer to extend and improve life.

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Counsel said there were complications in the first hour of the five-hour surgery and panic ensued.

She said there was “a surgical catastrophe nobody was prepared for” and Ms Fox lost 17 litres of blood. A bleed in a vein was identified and repaired but Ms Fox went into cardiac arrest.

Counsel said the surgery was abandoned after four hours and Ms Fox was transferred to intensive care where she later died.

Ms Fox, from Castelrea, Co Roscommon, was the “heart, light and soul” of the Fox family who had hoped the surgery would give the pensioner a new lease of life, said Ms O’Mahony, instructed by David O’Malley of Callan Tansey Solicitors.

The settlement is without an admission of liability.

In the apology read to the court, St Vincent’s University Hospital said it would like to offer sincere apologies to Ms Fox’s family “for the events that occurred on September 1, 2017 related to the unexpected death “after the Whipple surgery.

The statement added that the hospital “would like to acknowledge the anxiety and distress this has caused the family.”

The case against the hospital was brought by Ms Fox’s children: Paula, Sandra, Vanessa, Natalie, Ray and Padraic over her death and for mental distress.

Outside court, Paula Fox, on behalf of the family, said their mother was so proud to be as fit and healthy as she was.

She said they had now lost all faith in the medical system.

“It was just elective surgery, she was told she would be fine; it was just a precaution and just go ahead and get it done. We went on holiday two weeks before that and they told her to go and have a great time because after surgery she would be out of action for a few weeks,” she said.

She added: “We were preparing to take her home and mind her at home and she didn’t come home to us.”

Asked what the apology from the hospital meant to the family, Ms Fox said: “To be honest it doesn’t mean anything to us. We have lost our mother.”

The inquest into the death of Mrs fox heard that the cause of death was hypovolemic shock secondary to a massive blood loss occurring during the Whipple procedure. A pathologist told the inquest she found no obvious defect in the affected blood vessel but noted Ms Fox had undergone previous surgery and the gall bladder was removed.

Noting the High Court settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey expressed his deepest sympathy to the Fox family.

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