Claiming Compensation for a Symphysiotomy in Ireland

Claiming Compensation for a Symphysiotomy in Ireland

Claiming compensation for a symphysiotomy in Ireland may soon be a possibility for the hundreds of women that the procedure was performed upon – without their knowledge or consent – between the 1940s and 1990s in a number of Irish hospitals. Victims of the controversial procedure, which has been acknowledged in the Supreme Court as “the gravest kind of negligence” and referred to in the Oireachtas as “belonging in the Dark Ages”, have been supported by the TD for Louth, Mr Gerry Adams, in their call for a temporary window in the Statute of Limitations – a law which limits the amount of time victims of symphysiotomy medical negligence have in which to make claims for symphysiotomy compensation.

The Statute of Limitations and Symphysiotomy Claims in Ireland

The Statute of Limitations in Ireland only allows two years from the date on which women discover that they have undergone a symphysiotomy procedure in Ireland to make symphysiotomy claims for compensation. For many women, their “date of knowledge” came many years after the procedure was performed but at a time when a lack of information prevailed about the rights of symphysiotomy medical negligence victims to claim compensation. As approximately only two hundred women of the fifteen hundred that underwent the procedure are still alive in Ireland today, campaigners feel it is only just that the government waive the Statute for the survivors – as it was in 2000 for the victims of residential abuse.

Claims for Symphysiotomy Compensation in Ireland

Claims for symphysiotomy compensation in Ireland have to be pursued through the court system. The Injuries Board Ireland will decline to process any claim for symphysiotomy compensation which is submitted to them for assessment, as the grounds for making a symphysiotomy claim are that the procedure was performed “at the time and in the circumstances” when an alternate course of action was available (i.e. Caesarean Section). As a Caesarean Section would not have caused the injuries that the women who underwent a symphysiotomy suffered, symphysiotomy claims are regarded as medical negligence claims. This does not mean you will have to endure a protracted and potentially stressful court appearance as, when the Statute of Limitations is lifted, precedents have been set in which liability for symphysiotomy injuries has been attributed.

Symphysiotomy Cases in Ireland

To date, there has been only one successful symphysiotomy case in Ireland – that of Olivia Kearney, who made a claim for symphysiotomy compensation against Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda after discovering in 2002 that she had undergone a symphysiotomy operation in 1969. Although Olivia´s High Court symphysiotomy settlement was reduced by the Supreme Court on appeal, by successfully claiming compensation for a symphysiotomy in Ireland, Olivia´s symphysiotomy case raised awareness of the plight still suffered by hundreds of symphysiotomy victims.

Symphysiotomy Settlements

Olivia Kearney´s symphysiotomy case was settled eventually for 325,000 Euros to account for the pain and suffering she had experienced over more than forty years, the psychological injuries she had suffered and out of pocket expenses she had incurred in pursuit of treatment for her injury. How the symphysiotomy procedure affected Olivia´s wellbeing and quality of life will be felt differently by the many other women who wish to claim symphysiotomy compensation. No two symphysiotomy settlements are likely to be the same and, for this reason, you should always speak with a specialist symphysiotomy solicitor when claiming compensation for a symphysiotomy in Ireland.

Free Legal Advice about Claiming Compensation for a Symphysiotomy in Ireland

If you would like to know more about claiming compensation for a symphysiotomy in Ireland, you are invited to call our free Solicitors Advisory Panel and discuss the circumstances of your symphysiotomy operation and how it has affected your quality of life with an understanding and experienced symphysiotomy solicitor. At the time of writing, it is not known when, or for how long, the window of opportunity will be available to make claims for symphysiotomy compensation in Ireland and it is recommended that you speak with a symphysiotomy solicitor at the first practical opportunity.

Please note that by speaking with one of our symphysiotomy solicitors, you place yourself under no obligation to pursue a claim for symphysiotomy compensation in Ireland. All calls to our free Solicitors Advisory Panel are completely confidential and, if now is not a suitable time to speak with us, please take advantage of our call-back request form at the bottom of the page and one of our helpful team will get back in touch with you when it is more convenient.