Melchior and Ors v Sydney Adventist Hospital Ltd and Anor [2008] NSWSC 1282

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Melchior and Ors v Sydney Adventist Hospital Ltd and Anor [2008] NSWSC 1282

HEARING DATE(S) : 06/11/2008, 07/11/2008, 10/11/2008, 12/11/2008, 13/11/2008, 17/11/2008

JUDGMENT DATE : 9 December 2008

JUDGMENT OF : Hoeben J

DECISION : Judgment in favour of the defendants. The plaintiffs are to pay the defendants' costs of these proceedings.

CATCHWORDS : MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE - failure by surgeon to administer an anticoagulant following Achilles tendon repair operation - content of duty of care owed by surgeon - breach of duty by surgeon and hospital - application of section 5O Civil Liability Act 2002 - causation - whether administration of anticoagulant would have prevented pulmonary embolism - late application to amend Statement of Claim.

Civil Liability Act 2002 LEGISLATION CITED : Civil Liability Amendment (Personal Responsibility) Act 2002 Civil Procedure Act 2005 Compensation to Relatives Act 1897

CATEGORY : Principal judgment

Bonnington Castings Ltd v Wardlaw [1956] AC 613 Chappel v Hart [1998] HCA 55; (1998) 195 CLR 232 Desmond v Cullen [2001] NSWCA 238; (2001) 34 MVR 186 Dobler v Kenneth Halverson [2007] NSWCA 335 Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd [2003] 1 AC 32 Halverson v Dobler [2006] NSWSC 1307 CASES CITED : Rogers v Whitaker (1992) HCA 58; (1992) 175 CLR 479 at 483 Rosenberg v Percival [2001] HCA 18; (2001) 205 CLR 434 Rufo v Hosking [2004] NSWCA 391; (2005) 61 NSWLR 678 Seltsam Pty Limited v McGuiness and Another [2000] NSWCA 29; (2000) 49 NSWLR 262 Vairy v Wyong Shire Council [2005] HCA 62, (2005) 223 CLR Ruddock v Taylor [2003] NSWCA 262; (2003) 58 NSWLR 269 at 286 Wyong Shire Council v Shirt (1980) 146 CLR 40