A young man was injured in a motor-cycle accident and was taken to the defendant’s hospital. His father attended to him at his bedside for fourteen days, watching him deteriorate in health, fall into a coma and die. The father alleged that the staff of the hospital was negligent and that he suffered psychiatric illness. The father’s claim was struck out as disclosing no cause of action.
Held: The father’s appeal failed. The court must aply the law as it stood.
Staughton LJ said: ‘this court must in my judgment accept the state of the law as declared by the House of Lords, even in a striking-out application. It would not be right for us to impose on the parties the burden of a trial which can only have one conclusion on the present law, against the possibility that this may prove to be a case where the law is changed.’
Judges:
Staughton LJ
Citations:
[1994] 5 Med LR 170, [1994] MLR 170
Statutes:
Environmental Protection Act 1990 80
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Lam and Others (T/a ‘Namesakes of Torbay’) and Borough of Torbay CA 30-Jul-1997
The claimant sought damages after the planning authority allowed the first defendant to conduct a manufacturing business in the course of which spraying activities took place which caused them personal injuries and loss of business.
Held: The . .
Cited – Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v Ronayne CA 17-Jun-2015
The respondent was an experienced ambulance driver. His wife underwent emergency treatment at the appellant’s hospital. He had claimed as a secondary victim for the distress he suffered witnessing her suffering.
Held: The hospital’s appeal . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Litigation Practice, Personal Injury
Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.225321
