Medical cases

- Redress awarded to the client for hospital infection

The Highest Court has recently refused to hear a cassation claim lodged by one of Warsaw hospitals from a partial verdict on the patient - Legal Office's Client - infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The Highest Court held that the judgments in the case, in accordance with claim and arguments raised by the Legal Office on behalf of the injured patient in the course of the proceedings, fully merit approval. Thus, pursuant to a preliminary judgment issued in the present case, the amount of nearly 500.000 zloty in redress, together with statutory interest have been awarded to the Client of the Legal Office. Currently, there are pending proceedings in front of the Regional Court in Warsaw on the remaining claims sought from the hospital for the Client of the Legal Office, such as compensation and monthly pension.

- proceedings in front of the Regional Court in Warsaw XXIV Civil Division and in front of the Appeal Court in Warsaw I Civil Division; the decision of the Highest Court Civil Chamber I Division

- The Appeal Court upheld the judgment on redress and pension

The Appeal Court upheld the judgment of the Court of first instance granting the claimant - the Customer of Legal Office - 60.000 zloty in redress and 6250 zloty in capitalized pension and a monthly pension amounting to 150 zloty. When determining the amount of redress, the court took into account both the factors which the hospital was liable for, namely the claimant's MRSA infection and abnormal perioperative prophylaxis, as well as the factors which the hospital was not liable for, i.e., the claimant's prior illnesses. The court of the first instance pointed out that the amount of redress takes into account the level and standard of living of the public in 2003, because it was the year when the claimant called the sued hospital to pay. The Appeal Court held that the amount of redress is adequate to the harm suffered by the plaintiff. The claimant also sought a monthly pension of 150 zloty, to cover, inter alia, the costs of the third parties' care over the claimant - courts of both instances found this claim to be justified.

- proceedings in front of the Regional Court in Warsaw XXIV Civil Division and in front of the Appeal Court in Warsaw I Civil Division

- 1,400,000 zloty for medical negligence during the childbirth

The legal office Budzowska Fiutowski & Partners. Legal Counsellors is leading court proceedings in the matter concerning medical negligence during the childbirth caused to a minor plaintiff in which the Regional Court in Lublin granted redress in the amount of 600 thousand zloty and 5 thousand of a monthly pension which constitutes one of the highest amounts adjudged in Poland. An injured boy, as a result of oxygen deficiency during the birth, has severe symptoms of damage of nervous system. The boy does not establish optical contact, has microcephaly, does not sit on his own, does not stand, requires a permanent rehabilitation and help of third persons until the end of his life. In order to satisfy needs of a minor plaintiff during the court trial our legal office asked the court on his behalf to grant him a temporary pension. The court recognized this motion positively. Specific character of matters connected with medical negligence caused that during the court proceedings it was necessary among others to hear many witnesses, prepare many writs containing an extensive legal argumentation and passing many opinions by experts. The proceedings lasted over 6 years. During the court trial 17 court sittings took place, 11 medical opinions were issued.

As a result of an appeal of the Legal Office filed on behalf of the Client to the Court of II instance an injured minor boy was adjudged an amount of over 1,400,000 zloty. This amount consists of redress and compensation (with legal interest) and pension for the day of passing the judgement. Apart from the above mentioned amount the boy will also receive legal interest counted on basis of a pension adjudged for more than 6 years of court procedure.

- proceedings in front of the Regional Court in Lublin, I Civil Department, and in front of the Appeal Court in Lublin I Civil Department

- A complicated matter ended up with a success

In June 2009 the Appeal Court in Szczecin passed a judgement in which it adjudged in favour of a plaintiff an amount of 150 thousand zloty as a redress and about 50 thousand zloty as a compensation, and 1.325 zloty of a monthly pension since November 2004. A matter which ended up with a success was a very complicated one because of a complex factual state and a necessity of settlement of a level of contribution of a sued hospital's personnel to health's damage, being a result of a car accident. In 1997 a plaintiff with his father and uncle took part in a car accident - a horse from the nearby stud ran directly into the car. As a result of this accident an uncle of a plaintiff died. A plaintiff was then eighteen years old and he and his father were injured in the accident. Despite of symptoms of a spine injury, the plaintiff's spine was not stiffened in any way (either during a transport or during the first days of a stay in the hospital), the injured plaintiff was not secured from moving himself, a radiological examination of his spine was not led, and it was not even led directly after a negative opinion of a neurologist was passed. As there was no examination led which would confirm pressure at spinal cord, there was no operation aiming at removal of this pressure in the proper time. This whole negligence caused strengthening of paralysis of legs and hands which at the moment of reception to the hospital were skilful (healthy) and there was a chance (but not certainty) to rescue their functions. At the moment the almost thirty-year-old man is paralysed and has little power in his hands. A few years ago, before starting courts proceedings against a hospital, the plaintiff (without cooperation of the Legal Office) concluded an agreement with an insurer and an owner of the stud from which a horse causing the accident ran away. After several years - after having obtained a legal advice of our Legal Office - he decided to pursue further claims based on damages caused by negligence committed by medical personnel of the sued hospital. The most difficult issue was to settle a level of contribution of two factors to plaintiff's damage - an accident and a faulty treatment - and to settle probability if proper treatment could prevent the results of the accident. In order to settle causal nexus between state of current health of the plaintiff and medical negligence it was necessary to prepare many medical opinions and to settle in what degree the plaintiff's state is caused by medical negligence. In the proceedings it was stated that the fact of affirmation of breaching patient's rights, even without occurring negative effects, justifies adjudication of redress. The proceedings lasted almost 5 years, however because of pursuing also interest since the day of delivery of a suit to the defendants, apart from main amounts the plaintiff obtained also statutory interest for the period of the court proceedings (at the moment statutory interest amount to 13 % yearly). On the day of passing a judgement by the court of the 2nd instance they amounted to about 200 thousand zloty.

- proceedings in front of the Regional Court in Szczecin I Civil Department and in front of the Appeal Court in Szczecin I Civil Department



- The case closed after over 15 years

After over 10 years of court proceedings in the medical matter, the legal office took over the case from another attorney. The final and valid judgement was passed after 5 years of leading the proceedings by the legal office and the judgement was executed, however, during that period the case was examined twice by the Appeal Court. The plaintiff obtained redress in the claimed amount, as well as compensation and a monthly pension. The adjudged sum with interest amounted almost to one million zloty. An additional case that appeared in this matter concerned settlement of a subject obliged to repair damage incurred by the plaintiff - a patient - firstly, as a result of a conversion of health protection institutes into independent posts and secondly, as a result of a reform of public administration concerning entities entitled to represent the State Treasury.

- proceedings in front of the Regional Court in Warszawa I Civil Department and in front of the Appeal Court in Warszawa I Civil Department

- Record-breaking redress

The legal office led proceedings in which the court granted the highest redress for medical negligence of that time, i.e. seven hundred thousand zloty (a judgement of the Regional Court in Katowice was issued in 2007). A four-year-old boy was injured as a result of culpable medical negligence (incorrect connection of a drip). He suffered from lasting paresis of lower limbs. In order to enable during the court trial satisfaction of basic needs of the injured boy, arising from his health condition, the legal office while filing a suit, filed at the same time a motion to the court for passing a temporary order obliging defendants to pay to the plaintiff monthly a specified amount of money. The motion was examined positively by the court.

- proceedings in front of the Regional Court in Katowice II Civil Court in front of the Appeal Court in Katowice I Civil Department and proceedings in front of the Highest Court Civil Chamber