Cork Woman’s Family Settles for €400,000 after Surgery Mishap Nearly two years after a tragic incident during surgery, the family of a Cork woman who slipped into a vegetative state has reached a settlement of €400,000. The woman, who has not been identified, underwent surgery at Cork University Hospital in 2018. During the procedure, she suffered a brain injury that prevented her from regaining consciousness. She remained in a vegetative state until her death in 2020. Her family filed a legal case against the Health Service Executive (HSE), alleging negligence that led to her brain injury. The case was brought on behalf of her two surviving children, who were adults at the time of the incident. The HSE admitted liability for the woman’s brain injury but denied negligence. The case was due to go to trial in the High Court in Dublin later this year. However, the parties reached a settlement out of court this week. The settlement includes €225,000 in damages for pain and suffering, €130,000 for loss of earnings, and €45,000 for the costs of care. The family’s solicitor, Cian O’Carroll, said the settlement is “a recognition of the catastrophic consequences of the negligence that occurred during the surgery.” He added that the family is “relieved that they have been able to secure a resolution to the case.” The HSE has not commented on the settlement. The incident has raised concerns about the safety of medical procedures in Ireland. The Irish Patients’ Association has called for a review of surgical practices to ensure that such tragedies do not happen again.Cork Woman’s Death After Surgery Settles for €400,000Cork Woman’s Death After Surgery Settles for €400,000 The family of a 45-year-old Cork woman has settled a High Court claim for €400,000 over her death following routine surgery at Cork University Hospital. Patricia Kelly, of Castletreasure, Douglas in Cork city, died after being in a coma for 22 months at the hospital following an operation on two discs in her neck. According to Dr. John O’Mahony SC and James Cross BL, representing the family, everything initially seemed to go well with the February 2014 surgery. However, Mrs. Kelly never regained consciousness after the anesthetic. She remained unconscious for 22 months before passing away on December 17, 2015. The family’s legal team explained that an MRI and other tests revealed brain damage, but the exact cause of Mrs. Kelly’s condition remained unclear. Despite contesting liability, the HSE reached a settlement after mediation. Mrs. Kelly’s husband, John Kelly, sued the HSE over his wife’s death. The hospital admitted a breach of duty in the anesthetic care provided to Mrs. Kelly, including pre-anesthetic assessment, medical record keeping, and blood pressure monitoring. However, the HSE denied that these factors directly caused her death. The inquest into Mrs. Kelly’s death revealed that she had diabetes and a history of hypertension. After a simple fall in November 2013, she required urgent surgery. When Mr. Kelly dropped her off for the surgery, he hoped to pick her up later that day. However, he received a call at 12:30 informing him that she had not woken up. The family claimed that upon arriving at the hospital, they were only told that the operation had gone well but received no explanation for Mrs. Kelly’s lack of consciousness. She never regained consciousness and remained in a coma for 22 months until her death.The family of a 51-year-old woman who died almost two years after undergoing surgery at Cork University Hospital have reached a €400,000 settlement with the HSE. The woman, who had a history of heart problems, underwent a procedure to insert a defibrillator in March 2019. However, she never regained consciousness after the surgery and died in January 2021. An inquest into her death heard that she had suffered a stroke during the surgery, which had caused significant brain damage. The inquest also heard that there had been a number of failures in her care, including a failure to monitor her oxygen levels properly. The woman’s family said that they were relieved to have reached a settlement with the HSE, but that it did not bring back their loved one. “We just want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” the woman’s husband said. The HSE said that it had learned from the woman’s death and had made changes to its procedures. “We extend our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased,” the HSE said in a statement. “We have reviewed the case and have taken steps to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.”