Compensation of £175,000 recovered due a historical failure to correctly fix and plate a distal radius fracture
03 October 2024
Kate Rushton, Associate Solicitor in the Clinical Negligence Department at Curtis Law Solicitors has recently settled a case for a client who sustained a fracture of his distal radius in his youth. The failure to correctly fix and plate the fracture at the time led to a permanent restriction of movement in his dominant left arm which affected his future employment.
Mr A suffered two injuries to his left arm when he was 15 years old. The first injury occurred in October 2000 when he sustained a fracture at the mid shaft radius of his left arm and he was treated with a cast. Mr A then presented at accident and emergency again in January 2001 having slipped on ice and landed on his left arm. He was diagnosed with ‘re-fracture of the left radius’ and underwent manipulation on the same day which was unsuccessful, and then open reduction and internal fixation of left radius was carried out in February 2001.
Mr A had a difficult recovery, never quite regaining full rotation of the arm despite numerous attempts at physiotherapy. He was discharged from Orthopaedic care despite this and he adapted his lifestyle to manage the restrictions with his arm, the full extent of which only becoming apparent in later life when he began to work. Mr A was under the impression that his arm had simply never fully recovered from the last fracture he sustained.
Mr A attended his GP on a number of occasions over the years reporting problems with his left arm and the impact on his working life due to lack of forearm rotation and pain. He was re-referred to orthopaedics in 2018 when it was suggested that the condition of his arm was permanent as it had been stabilised in mal position in 2001.
Curtis Law Solicitors obtained Mr A’s medical records and identified the various breaches of duty of care over a long period, proving this was complicated however by the fact the Defendant Trust had destroyed the index radiology. With the assistance of expert Orthopaedic opinion, and by obtaining current CT scans of Mr A’s arm, we were able to prove that the fracture had been fixed and plated in an unsatisfactory position in 2001 and that there had been a failure to identify this, and correct it, in the post operative period.
Throughout our investigations it was clear that this clinical failure had far reaching effects on Mr A’s future life. He was unable to complete his planned mechanic apprenticeship and had difficulty in many subsequent career choices due to the restrictions with his dominant arm.
The Defendant denied liability throughout the claim and Curtis Law Solicitors proceeded to issue Court proceedings to force settlement. After exchange of expert evidence the Defendant’s representatives conceded liability and engaged in settlement negotiations. At a joint settlement meeting compensation for pain, suffering and loss of amenity, loss of earnings and care and assistance was agreed in the sum of £175,000.
Kate Rushton, who conducted the claim for Mr A said; “This was a difficult case to piece together and prove due to missing key radiology from the time. However, perseverance paid off and a good result was achieved for Mr A”.
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