Action against dentist dismissed

AN action by a schoolteacher against a dentist has been dismissed in the High Court because it was out of time. Ms Brid Kearney (41), Meenacuing, Gweedore, Co Donegal, had claimed the dental surgeon, Mr John O'Donovan, Griffith Avenue, Dublin, was negligent and in breach of his duty when he performed a surgical procedure on her in 1979. Mr O'Donovan denied the claims.

Mr Justice O'Donovan, in dismissing the action, said he was concerned that because the only issue he was to decide was whether or not Ms Kearney was out of time to bring her action, it would follow that if he held that she was out of time, her case would be dismissed. "The defendant, therefore, would have had no opportunity to refute any allegations which were made against him," Mr Justice O'Donovan said. In this country, he said, such allegations could do irreparable harm to a person in the course of his or her profession.

The judge said that if Ms Kearney had a complaint against the defendant she should have made it after the procedure was carried out when she continued to suffer pain and discomfort. Instead, Ms Kearney waited nine years before suing the dentist and then waited another six years before delivering her statement of claim. He said that Ms Kearney was well outside the three year period allowed before proceedings were commenced and, therefore, her claim was statute barred.