Clinical Negligence Partner, Paul Fouad, settled a spinal bleed claim for £1.2 million plus costs. The Claimant attended A&E after worsening pain in her back, neck, shoulders and arms. Her condition was misdiagnosed with no thorough neurological assessments being carried out at the hospital. She was subsequently discharged.

The Claimant’s condition worsened and the following morning she was unable to get up and required a wheelchair. An ambulance was called as she had severe weakness in all four limbs.

The Claimant was taken to hospital where she was found to be tetraplegic. A spinal cord haematoma was considered as a possible cause. It was considered that an MRI or a CT scan was required. She subsequently had a CT scan which showed no abnormalities, however, a cord haematoma would not be expected to be picked up by a CT scan. An MRI scan was not carried out until late the next day and showed a spinal bleed. By this time, it was considered too late for the Claimant to benefit from spinal decompression surgery.

The Claimant has been left with almost no function in her lower limbs and right arm despite significant physiotherapy input. She now requires assistance from 2 carers on a daily basis and remains bed bound, requiring a wheelchair for mobility.

Breach of duty

Breach of duty was admitted by the Defendant as the Claimant should have been referred for a spinal MRI scan initially, in light of her symptoms. However, the Defendant argued that an earlier spinal MRI would not have made a difference to the outcome. Despite this, Paul successfully obtained a large settlement for the Claimant which has the opportunity to significantly improve her quality of life.

Generally with spinal bleed cases, early treatment will help to improve outcomes as the clinicians may be able to evacuate the bleed or manage and lessen the effects of it.

Some patients require medication to increase or decrease the thickness of their blood. A common medication is a blood thinning medication called Warfarin. This helps the blood flow more easily and can help prevent blood clots. It is important that any medications such as Warfarin are managed correctly and this is usually done by keeping a patient’s INR levels under review. It can be important in cases like these, to ensure that a patient’s INR levels have been correctly monitored and that their medication has been correctly managed.

Please see case summary for this claim: Spinal Bleed