Graham Bell

The claimant’s late wife’s GP surgically removed a mole from her face. He negligently failed to act on a histopathology report that warned that the sample sent for analysis was ‘unsuitable for reliable diagnosis’. She subsequently developed malignant melanoma and died. Liability was admitted and the parties worked together to settle the case without court proceedings being necessary save for the High Court to approve the settlement in view of the ages of the dependent children. Damages recovered: £750,000.

The claimant’s husband consulted the defendant as a private patient with a history of recent deterioration in longstanding bowel symptoms. The defendant was an eminent physician who had contributed to national guidelines for his medical specialism. It was alleged that there was a negligent failure to offer the patient a colonoscopy which would have led to early diagnosis of cancer. This would have been removed with a complete cure and have avoided his subsequent death. Liability was denied but after court proceedings were well under way the parties agreed terms of settlement for a substantial sum which was approved by the High Court in view of the ages of the dependant children.

The claimant’s wife died a result of a delay in recognising possible meningitis and treating with intravenous antibiotics following attendance at the emergency department. The trust admitted that there was a negligent delay but argued that the infection was exceptionally virulent and she would have died in any event. At trial the High Court preferred the evidence of the claimant’s experts to that of the defendant’s experts and gave judgment for the claimant.

The claimant suffered total blindness as a result of the defendant’s failure to diagnose and treat temporal arteritis following her admission to hospital with classic presentation of that condition. Liability was admitted. The claimant was completely dependent on others for her care and substantial interim payments were obtained to fund her care. The case settled prior to trial for a substantial sum.

Graham recovered the largest ever award for blindness and was the first solicitor to win a cerebral palsy case funded by a conditional fee agreement.

His principal losses were disadvantage on the labour market and future accommodation costs. Case settled shortly before trial. Damages recovered: £2.8 million.

The claimant suffered severe cerebral palsy as result of the negligent mismanagement of his birth. Liability was denied but the issue was settled shortly after service of court proceedings. Interim payments were obtained to enable the family to move home, purchase a suitable vehicle and pay a team of carers. Damages recovered: about £7.25 million.

The claimant was aged 22 when she underwent routine laparoscopic surgery. The surgeon negligently punctured her aorta leading to cardiac arrest and severe brain injury. Graham took the case over from Fiona Follis at a late stage. The court approved a settlement worth about £8 million. The case was widely reported in the press.

Claimant suffered severe electrocution resulting in brain injury as a result of the negligence of a fellow employee. Liability was denied throughout. The High Court heard evidence from both parties expert engineers, preferred the evidence of the claimant’s expert and gave judgment for the claimant subject to reduction for contributory negligence. A substantial sum of damages was later agreed between the parties.

The claimant was aged 60 when she underwent bilateral hip replacement surgery. The hospital negligently failed to investigate her post operative pain and allowed the development of a pressure sore which eventually led to a below knee amputation of her leg. Liability was admitted. The case settled following the service of the claimant’s expert evidence. Damages recovered: £800,000.

An exceptionally unusual case where the claimant’s GP failed to adequately advise her on receipt of letters from a hospital genetics department about the risk of passing on alpha 1- antitrypsin deficiency (MZ) to future children. She later had children who suffered this condition and one suffered liver damage leading to the need for transplant. The defendant admitted that the claimant should have been referred for genetic counselling but robustly denied that she would have acted differently in view of the very low risk of the condition causing severe injury in children. The case involved complex issues of genetics, causation paediatric hepatology and damages for wrongful birth. As a matter of law only the mother was entitled to damages but not the children. The defendant instructed a QC specialising in wrongful birth cases but eventually agreed terms of settlement during court proceedings. Damages recovered: £75,000. Graham pursued this case from a conviction of its merits even though a leading barrister thought it would not succeed.

Child claimant was involved in road traffic accident which also resulted in the death of both her parents. She suffered a multiplicity of serious injuries including a brain injury. Matters were complicated by the claimant's refusal to follow the advice of her clinicians and case manager and further refusal to attend medico-legal appointments. On approval of a settlement of a lump sum and periodical payments the judge commentated that the unique circumstances of the case meant that calculating damages was exceptionally difficult. Damages recovered: £1.6 million.

At counsel's recommendation we took over this case from another firm of solicitors. The mismanagement of the claimant’s birth in 1979 led to a very unusual pattern of injury including learning difficulties and hearing loss. Liability was denied and court proceedings were in progress. A new team of experts were instructed. The case settled for lump sum and periodical payments worth £2.3 million. Graham also settled the case of the claimant's mother who suffered Sheehan’s syndrome (an endocrine injury) as a result of her mismanaged post delivery uterine haemorrhage leading to huge blood loss. The mother’s case was over 20 years limitation barred.

Child claimant who had congenital disabilities requiring a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt suffered catastrophic brain damage as a result of a blocked shunt. On at least two occasions the defendant's hospital negligently failed to refer to specialist neurosurgical centre for treatment when symptoms indicated that there could be a problem with the shunt. Although liability was denied throughout the case settled about two weeks before trial. Damages recovered: in excess of £4 million.

Patient admitted for gynaecological surgery. The surgeon negligently failed to repair partial lesion of large bowel which later perforated leading to admission to intensive care, emergency laparotomy (also negligently performed) and colostomy. Patient underwent numerous further tests and procedures over the following years and suffered gross abdominal disfigurement and a severe depressive reaction. Liability was denied until a few weeks before a liability trial and the case subsequently settled. Damages recovered: £225,000.

The claimant was catastrophically damaged as a result of being given an overdose of chloramphenicol to treat suspected neonatal meningitis. A number of vital medical records had been lost and the legal officer of the health authority swore an affidavit confirming that despite extensive searches the records could not be found. Graham was able to locate the records after nearly 30 years. The case settled for damages of over £3 million, including periodical payments to fund the claimant's future care.

Patient suffered severe injury as a result of a rare tendon failure complication at total knee replacement surgery. There was a dispute with the privately paid surgeon as to the pre-operative warnings he gave and we were instructed after expiry of the three year limitation deadline. The case had a number of features similar to those in Chester v Afshar. The case settled with the defendant insisting on a confidentiality clause in the final order. Damages recovered: £350,000.

Serious injury to liver following damage to common bile duct at laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Damages of £290,000 were amongst the largest awarded for this injury and included a substantial payment in respect of the potential cost of future transplant surgery.

Negligent neo-natal oxygen management led to retinopathy of prematurity and blindness. An unusual feature of the case was the extent to which the claimant’s obesity was caused by her sedentary lifestyle (resulting from blindness) or an unrelated endocrine disorder. The court approved a settlement of £2.25 million which was the largest sum ever awarded for this type of injury.

The High Court approved a £2.5 million settlement of this contested cerebral palsy case where the claimant alleged that the medical records had been retrospectively, and fraudulently, altered to disguise mismanagement of the birth. An exceptionally unusual feature of the case was that the claimant obtained the permission of the court to rely on the evidence of an expert document examiner to report on the altered records.