Despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, our firm has thankfully been able to continue to successfully resolve cases on behalf of our Clients.

Once such example involved a young women who injured her back while abroad. Upon her return home she presented in A+E in quite significant pain. She was assessed and discharged home with a diagnosis of sciatica with a prescription of analgesic drugs and a recommendation of physiotherapy. The pain continued to worsen and she developed leg spasms with tingling and numbness in her left foot.

Following an examination by her GP, he noted that she seemed to be suffering from foot drop, he felt she was ‘in extremis’ and had very severe nerve root compression, as such, he referred her back to A+E urgently. Despite the urgent referral, she was once again sent home from the hospital after being advised that the consultant would not be available until the next morning, they prescribed further analgesic drugs and advised she return in the morning.

Our Client finally underwent a MRI for suspected cauda equina syndrome, some 15 days after first presenting in A+E which showed a large left paracentral disc protrusion causing compression of the segmentally emerging nerve roots as well as the roots of the cauda equina. She underwent surgery to debulk the disc protrusion however an assessment following the surgery indicated that her footdrop persisted.

Our Client remains disabled due to her left-sided foot drop and this is understandably having a major impact on her life in general. The case was successfully settled in September 2020 for the sum of €1.15 million to the satisfaction of the Plaintiff.

If you require advice on a similar issue Michael Boylan and Anna O’Donoghue can be contacted by email at michael@michaelboylan.com and anna@michaelboylan.com.