Brain haemorrhage leads to NHS negligence payout
November 28, 2007
The husband of a woman left with brain damage through medical negligence is to receive £150,000 in compensation, following a court settlement.
Cristina Malcolm faced a "catalogue of failures" from medical staff, which led to a severe brain haemorrhage leaving her with a memory of just ten minutes, Legal Medical reports.
The six-figure interim payment was agreed by NHS chiefs - who consented to judgement being entered for a court-approved 95 per cent of the claim.
She had suffered an initial haemorrhage three weeks before the incident - however, this was misdiagnosed as a virus by doctors.
Cristina's husband Sandy said: "Cristina was discharged five and a half days after her initial collapse and severe headache without a full examination or correct diagnosis and she still had the same symptoms that she was admitted to hospital with.”
The couple's lawyer, Sandy Malcolm, added: “I strongly want people to realise that sudden, severe headaches that are unique to the sufferer ... must be treated as a possible brain haemorrhage until it is proven to be otherwise.
"Brain haemorrhages are one of the biggest causes of sudden death among otherwise healthy young adults and my experience makes me wonder how many of those deaths could be prevented."