The family of a man, who died after key details of his medical condition were misplaced on a Post-it note in his medical file, were awarded €76,000 in a High Court settlement yesterday, writes Mary Carolan
Mr Kevin Murphy, Montenotte, Cork, died in September 1999, almost two years after he was diagnosed with elevated levels of calcium in his blood (hypercalcaemia).
In the two years following diagnosis, Mr Murphy was not informed by his doctors of his condition.
Medical staff who saw him on admission to hospital in 1999 also failed to notice results from a blood test, which were written on a Post-it note attached to a letter.
The High Court has agreed a settlement between Mr Murphy's family, the Mercy Hospital and four of the doctors who treated him.
They are: Dr Neil Brennan, a consultant at the Mercy Hospital, Cork; the Mercy Hospital; Dr George Mullan, an orthopaedic surgeon; and Mr Murphy's general practitioners, Dr Norman Murphy and Dr Fergus O'Connell.
Welcoming the settlement, his family announced they would be donating the €76,000 to charity: the Third World agency, Bóthar, and the Make a Wish Foundation.
Kevin's mother, Mrs Margaret Murphy, described the case as a David versus Goliath situation.
"I'm sorry that Kevin is dead when he should be alive today. I'm very angry that we had to take court action because it's not the most appropriate.
"I hope it will be a wake-up call for the medical profession, that they will stop protecting each other. I'm very proud of us as a family, we have achieved a lot in a David and Goliath situation."
She added: "Kevin was only 21, he was a live wire, we miss him hugely, we will always miss him."
Mr Murphy first went to his local GP, Dr Murphy, in 1997 complaining of persistent pain in the dorsal spine. This pain was explicable by hypercalcaemia. Dr Murphy referred him to Mr Mullan, the orthopaedic surgeon. Mr Mullan arranged for blood tests, which indicated significant renal failure and hypercalcaemia.
Mr Mullan said he then wrote to Dr Murphy recommending that Kevin be referred to an endocrinologist. Dr Murphy says he never got that letter.
Kevin continued with intermittent pain for the following two years, but returned to a locum GP, Dr O'Connell, who carried out tests which again found him to be suffering from elevated levels of calcium.
Mr Murphy was admitted to the Mercy Hospital on September 23rd with a referral letter from Dr O'Connell, but with the key information about the tests attached on a Post-it note. He died three days later.
Dr Brennan, who was the consultant looking after Mr Murphy, did not notice the note until some weeks after his death.