DAMAGES SOUGHT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23112, 10 August 1938, Page 16

DAMAGES SOUGHT

CLAIM BY PATIENT HOSPITAL BOARD SUED •/ > S * * _ > EVIDENCE OF A DOCTOR 1 CASE FOR DEFENCE OPENS * , Evidence for the plaintiff was completed before Mr. Justice Fair and a jury in the Supreme Court yesterday in support of the claim of Mrs. Margaret Barry for £lßl3 damages against the Auckland Hospital Board for alleged negligent or incompetent treatment. Plaintiff alleged that, after an operation last year in the Auckland Hospital, a swab or other foreign body . had' been left in her abdomen, and had caused her serious illness and suffering until it was removed by an operation performed in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital on November 27. The defence denied that any foreign body had been found or that the board had'been guilty of any negligence in the case-. The claim was first heard early June, when, after a six days' hear-ing,;-the jury was unable to agree. ■ Plaintiff is represented by Mr. Sullivan ax'd Mr. Winter, while Mr. V. R. Meredith and Mr. McCarthy are appearing for the defendant board. Mention of "Foreign Body" Cross-examined by Mr. Meredith, Dr. J. TV. Bridgman, who performed the .joperation on plaintiff at the Mater Hospital, said he had not mentioned a swab to ofcher medical men before the „ operation. He said to Dr. Grant and I)r. Robb that it "looked like a foreign body." Mr. Meredith: Do you not know that Mother Mary Agnes specially went into the theatre because of what was being said about a foreign body? Witness: That got round after the X-ray had been taken. itness showed at the operation table in Court where he, Mother Mary Agnes, the anaesthetist and the instrument lister had been placed round the table. When the piece of brown felt-like material was brought out, his recollection was that Mother Mary Agnes said, "That is a swab," and slid, it under the cover. Mr. Meredith: She said that was a gross falsehood. Witness: If Mother Mary Agnes' memory is good I must be-at fault. I have a very good memory. When you reach the age of 70 —and 1 suppose she must be that—the brain plays some yery funny tricks. . A Statement Repeated Mr. Meredith: You still say she slid it under the cover?—l repeat it now. I pulled it out, and was going to cut ' it in two, when the fact that the ' - patient was not in good condition was brought to my notice. Mr. Meredith: Do you still insist that Dr. Maskell called your attention to the patient's condition ?—Yes. Witness said that an intravenous injection' was; being given the patient .when he finished the operation. Mr. Meredith: You know you are contradicted on that, too? Yes, it is ! rathei 1 remarkable how they all agree, j "I am not speculating where it was taken or by whom it was taken," said witness in reference to the piece of brown material, which he stated had disappeared from the tray when ho returned to the theatre after the operation. He said that at the commencement of the operation Mother Mary Agnes ordered two nurses out of the theatre. Staffing of the Theatre Witness said that the theatre was short-staffed during the operation. "It became very apparent toward the end of the operation that concealment was .the order of the day," he'continued. "Otherwise these people who are coming forward to give evidence would liave flooded the theatre with witnesses, not sent them away, and in doing so jeopardised the', patient's """ chance of coming off the table alive." They might not have realised the risk they were taking, he added, but the fact remained that the theatre was short-staffed. "The only conclusion I can draw," said witness;,' "is that it was shortstaffed for a _ reason, and the reason was to ge't rid of essential witnesses so that the truth would not get out." In answer to Mr. Meredith, witness said one would think the matter had nothing to do with the Mater Hospital, but he supposed the hospital Btood to lose if it went against anybody .else. He had kept the swab of cotton gauze he tools from Mrs. Barry with a view to takirig it back to the Mater and telling them not to play a trick like that on him again. "1 was perfectly willing to keep this matter I quiet," he said. "I had no desire to be mixed up in it at all." Another Medical Witness Witness said he knew at the time that the swab was burned with other litter from his desk about December 19. He did not tell Mr. or Mrs. Barry or their friends that he had found a. i swab. He tried to conceal the matter ( as long as he could,'and finally acted ( » cinlv tinder legal advice. ; Dr. W. H. Horton, who said he had \ learned the history of the case from ] the evidence at, the previous hearing j and from the hospital notes, said he j thought Mrs. -Barry had a foreign body 1 present before the Mater operation. Her rapid recovery after that operation was i the strongest feature of the case. 'The.witness agreed with Mr. Mere- t dith's suggestion that he had with- s drawn to a certain extent criticism he had previously made of Mrs. Barry's ' treatment at the Auckland Hospital. , ! j Opening the case for the defenco, .Mr. y Meredith said the whole case depended on whether Dr. Bridgman did or did not recover a swab from Mrs. Barry. .—Counsel outlined, the evidenco that would be called for the defence, detailing what occurred at Dr. Bridgman's , operation. "\\ itnesses would say that no ' --large pieces af any kind were removed from the patient. The case was adjourned until this t ;mormng. ■