Healthcare Law

A bereaved mother has received "substantial damages" from the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust and the Northern Ireland Hospice following a settlement ending legal action over alleged medical negligence. Christina Campbell, whose daughter Jessica died at four months old after being di

The UK Supreme Court will soon have the opportunity to settle the law relating to the proximity issue of plaintiffs as secondary victims in claims arising from clinical negligence, writes Belfast barrister James Stitt. On 13th January 2022 the Court of Appeal of England and Wales handed down judgeme

Healthcare lawyer Sandra O'Malley has been appointed by LauraLynn, Ireland's Children's Hospice, as chair of its board of directors. LauraLynn operates Ireland's only children's hospice as well as two local disability services, all based in Mallow, Co Cork.

The High Court has refused an application by the Medical Council to suspend a doctor from the register pending the resolution of a fitness to practise inquiry. The doctor had previously been convicted for drunk driving and other driving offences and banned from driving for 10 years. Despite providin

A further delay to the introduction of a long-awaited compensation scheme for injuries linked to vaccinations is "very disappointing", a solicitor has said. An expert group chaired by Mr Justice Charles Meenan in 2020 recommended the introduction of the scheme as a "matter of urgency", having been c

A draft national policy framework for open disclosure in the Irish health and social care sector has gone out for public consultation. The Department of Health developed the draft national open disclosure framework to provide a consistent approach to open disclosure across the entirety of the health

The legal framework underpinning the ownership and governance arrangements for the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) has been agreed by ministers following an extended political row. Campaigners and opposition parties have raised concerns about possible religious influence in the hospital after

Roger McMillan, managing partner and head of healthcare at Belfast-based Carson McDowell, has been named as a recipient of the 2022 Industry Defender Award by the board of directors of the Medical Professional Liability (MPL) Association. The award is presented to individual defence lawyers who have

A solicitor has called for period payment order (PPO) legislation to be revised to link payments to wage inflation rather than consumer prices. David O'Malley, a partner at Callan Tansey Solicitors, made the call outside the High Court after judges approved a third interim payment to his client Ruby

The UK Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal in a high-profile case aimed at preventing the prescription of puberty-blocking drugs to transgender children under the age of 16. In Bell v Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, lawyers for Keira Bell – a woman who said she regretted taking pubert

Legislation is set to be drawn up by government to strengthen the rights of individuals in relation to their health information. The Health Information Bill will provide for the appointment of a "national health information guardian", who will be an independent champion for individuals and the publi

Personal injury lawyers have called on the Irish government to establish a statutory compensation scheme for vaccine-related injuries. An expert group chaired by Mr Justice Charles Meenan recommended in December 2020 that the government establish a vaccine compensation scheme "as a matter of urgency

Two lawyers have been appointed as members of Leopardstown Park Hospital Board for a five-year term. Barrister Ciara Davin and solicitor Doirín Mulligan have been appointed by health minister Stephen Donnelly to serve on the Board until 17 February 2026.

Northern Ireland's High Court has denied leave for judicial review to an applicant who believed that being forced to rely on in-patient mental health treatments violated his rights under Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court held that systems in place to provide ment

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Health Service Executive (HSE) was required to carry out assessments of children with suspected disabilities on a chronological and nationwide basis. In so ruling, the Court rejected a submission that the HSE could carry out such assessments of need on a region