Doctors – What is the liability?

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A recent court decision in the United Kingdom gives medical clinicians reason for pause.[1-2]

In the decision of Maher (Deceased) v Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (Blackpool County Court, Blackpool Lancashire, England) there was a judgment against the defendants in the sum of £375,000. ($550,000 USD)

March 31, 2004 Ms. Maher gave birth to a healthy baby girl. This new mother died two days later on April 2nd. She bled to death.

Ms. Maher was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and had refused transfusion of blood product litigants agreed would have prevented her death.

The Court found the defendants should have acted sooner to locate and stop Ms. Maher’s hemorrhage because of her religious preference. Put another way, the Court decided that because defendants knew the patient’s religious preference against accepting blood product then it should have acted sooner than the standard duty of care dictated under the same circumstances had the patient held a different religious preference. Whether acting sooner would have prevented Ms. Maher’s death is debatable. It may have led to saving her life and it may not have led to saving her life.

The risk is tremendous. [2]

Marvin Shilmer
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References

1. Unless otherwise indicated, all excepts shown in this article are from Trust liable for death of Jehovah’s Witness despite refusal of blood transfusion, Clinical Risk, 2011, Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 206-208.

2. For more on this subject see the articles:

● More than 50,000 dead

● Death Statistic

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