Description
Coulson J dismissed the claimant's claim for damages against the defendant NHS trust?s alleged negligent treatment of him upon admission into one of its hospitals. Coulson J held that the defendant had negligently failed to diagnose the claimant as having Cauda Equina Syndrome ('CES') and thus did not request an urgent MRI. On the evidence, Coulson J found that had the MRI scan be undertaken at this initial stage, emergency surgery would have been performed some 48 hours earlier than it ultimately was. In the event, that surgery was unsuccessful and the claimant was left with no sensation below the waist. However, based upon the majority expert opinion, Coulson J found that had the surgery been carried out some 48 hours earlier, on a balance of probabilities the claimant's prospects of making a good recovery were less than 50%. In view of the expert evidence that the rapid onset of CES and deterioration in the claimant's condition reduced his prospects of recovery further still, Coulson J held tha t the claimant had failed to establish causation.
