A teenager left paralysed by an operation to correct spinal
curvature will get a multimillion-pound payout, it is reported.
Laura May, 16, from Chorley was paralysed from the chest down
when she was 11 after surgery at the Royal Preston Hospital.
London's High Court ruled in December that surgeon Roger Smith
had been negligent in not using a particular imaging technique, the
Chorley Guardian reports.
He also 'misplaced' a screw during her operation.
Her parents Christine and Bill took the medical
negligence case to the High Court and the hospital has now
dropped a planned appeal against the judgment. This could lead to
millions in compensation to cover the care and equipment now
needed."
No amount of money can make up for Laura's ruined life, said her
mother of Kirkstall Drive, Chorley.
"We did not launch this action for the money - we did it because
the surgeon did not use the right equipment which led to Laura
being paralysed," she told the Chorley Guardian.
A spokesman for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust said: "The parties' solicitors are now working together to
assess the compensation payable to Miss May."
Judge Mrs Justice Slade criticised Lancashire Teaching Hospitals
for failing to provide Spinal Cord Monitoring during the operation,
unlike many other hospital centres.