Part B: Scenario based Question

The Gascoigne Area Health Authority seeks your advice in respect of claims in the following circumstances: (9 marks)

aFelicity, who died from a rare form of food poisoning after the junior doctor on call at the accident and emergency department did not attend to examine her. The doctor assumed from the symptoms - vomiting and weakness - that Felicity had contracted a mild virus, and simply needed rest and plenty of fluid.

b) Brent, a long term patient undergoing plastic surgery treatment for scarring during a fire, who claims that he was not advised of the risk that he might suffer severe depression as a result of reaction to drugs used during surgery. Expert evidence indicates that the risk of depression in such circumstances is 15%.

c) A senior doctor who failed to carry out a standard procedure on Peter, an ailing elderly male, who eventually died. The doctor claimed that the alternative procedure he deployed was considered by several in the medical profession to be a highly effective - albeit relatively new - form of treatment.