Family to sue NHS after major care failures leave mother brain-damaged

Posted: March 12, 2014

Posted in: Head and Brain Injuries Medical Negligence 

The family of a woman who has been left with serious brain damage after doctors mistakenly turned off her life-support machine is planning to sue the NHS for damages of £5million. It has been speculated that this could be one of the biggest compensation cases seen in Scotland. Lorna Baillie was declared “technically dead” after suffering a heart attack two years ago. Doctors then agreed to turn off her life-support system, informing her family that she would be “medically dead” within an hour. 45-minutes later, relatives noticed that she was still breathing and doctors resumed her treatment.

Mrs Baillie has been left with severe brain damage following the disrupted treatment. She now requires full-time care and has to relearn how to walk and talk. The family has described their mother as being in a child-like state, having only recently learned how to dress and feed herself.

Specialist lawyers have promising projections

Mrs Baillie originally collapsed in her home in 2012 with a heart attack. Only two weeks before the incident, Mrs Baillie had gone to her GP complaining of chest pains, yet nothing was done about it. Her eldest daughter, Leanne (33) said that they plan to sue the GP as well as the NHS, seeing as nothing was done to treat her so early on.

Specialist lawyers believe that Mrs Baillie could be looking at compensation around the £5million mark; including around £250,000 a year to cover care costs.

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