The family of a 50-year-old man who tragically passed away following alleged poor treatment during his stay at Limerick University Hospital (LUH) has reached a settlement in their High Court case. The lawsuit was initiated against the HSE by the deceased man’s wife, Ethel O’Mahony from Killerk, Darragh, in County Clare, representing her family.
The litigations held that Colm O’Mahony, a father to three children, suffered and lost his life due to multiple negligent actions during his medical care at LUH. Despite his grievous, necrotising pancreatitis and worsening health status, he was given standard ward care without appropriate measures.
According to the suit, improper withdrawal of necessary management of Mr O’Mahony’s condition denied him his survival chances. Additional accusations included an alleged breach of life-saving guidelines during cardiac arrest and inability to address a potentially treatable cardiac arrest cause.
The O’Mahony family’s top legal representative, Liam Reidy, assisted by Esther Earley BL, informed the court that Mr O’Mahony was admitted at LUH from 16th March until his demise on 8th April 2020. Lawyer Reidy, working under O’Brien and Co solicitors, highlighted an undetected lung clot that developed two days prior to Mr O’Mahony’s death during his treatment. Reidy announced that the case was resolved through mediation, acknowledging HSE’s liability.
Mr O’Mahony, an employee at Clare County Council, was rushed to LUH’s emergency unit on 16th March 2020 due to unbearable abdominal pain. After his admission, he was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis before commencing on antibiotics. The allegation states there had been an absolute failure by HSE to aptly react to his declining health condition despite consistently high inflammation markers and multiple early warning signs during his hospitalisation.
In the lawsuit, allegations were made about the negligence in diagnosing Mr O’Mahony’s pulmonary embolism, dating back to 25th March 2020, when he initially reported difficulty in breathing. Shockingly, it was said that despite suspicions of his critical condition, Mr O’Mahony was not moved to intensive care for urgent medical intervention, including cardiopulmonary relief. The failure to do so arguably robbed him of his survival opportunity. This egregious oversight was the core argument of the proceedings.
Expressing his sorrow over the unfortunate circumstances, Judge Paul Coffey expressed his heartfelt condolences to Ms O’Mahony and her family during the announcement of the resolution.