Angus Moon QC and Eleanor Morrison successfully defend a clinical negligence claim for brain damage
2nd July 2019
Angus Moon QC and Eleanor Morrison successfully defend a clinical negligence claim for brain damage said to have been caused by the drug nifedipine (Adalat) given to a mother during pregnancy in order to inhibit labour.
Angus Moon QC and Eleanor Morrison successfully represented the Trust in the case of Luc Jones v Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust in which judgment was given on 10th June 2019. The claimant (who suffers from complex disabilities) argued that whilst he was in utero, in 1995, his mother had been treated for pre-term labour, despite not reaching the appropriate threshold for treatment. The claimant alleged that his mother was treated with an unlicensed and inappropriate drug (nifedipine), when she should instead have been treated with the standard and recommended drug at the time (ritodrine). Complicating the question was the modern position: since 1995 nifedipine has become the standard drug with which to treat pre-term labour. The judge found for the defendant, holding that the claimant’s mother was in pre-term labour and it was reasonable to treat her with nifedipine.
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