Misdiagnosis of HHT leads to £1m-plus clinical negligence compensation

A hospital will have to pay clinical negligence compensation of a minimum of £1.03m to a Cambridge man who suffered a severe brain injury because of misdiagnosis by its staff.

The 42-year-old man had a genetic condition, hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), which caused him to have abnormal blood vessel development, but treatment for this in his chest had meant he could lead a normal life.

When he became unwell on May 15, 2003, and was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, both the ambulance crew and the victim himself alerted staff to the likelihood that he could suffer from a brain abscess due to his underlying condition, but the notes were ignored and he was sent home a week later, having been diagnosed with a stroke.

Two days later when his condition worsened he had to return to the hospital for a number of operations but, due to the delay in treatment, he was left with a brain injury resulting in severe disablement.

His personal injury solicitor, who fought the case for four years, said, "Mistakes can happen in hospitals, but in this case an early admission of liability would have been in everyone's best interests.  Because liability was contested for so long, considerable costs have built up which will come from the public purse."

The clinical negligence victim can no longer live independently and the compensation payment will enable him to have appropriate care for the rest of his life. A lump sum of £1.03 m, will be followed by periodical payments of £35,000 per year until December 2013, £34,000 per year between December 2013 and December 2028 and £44,477 per year from December 2028 for the rest of his life.