Family settles action over mother in coma for 19 years

Today at the High Court, Mr Justice John Quirke was informed that the action, brought by Mr Padraic Keane arising from the treatment of Mr Keane's wife Agnes at Galway Regional Hospital in 1983, has been settled and that proceedings could now be struck out.

While no details of the settlement were revealed in open court, counsel for the Keane family said they had decided to divide any sum between them, and that the defendants had agreed to pay their costs.

Mr Keane, of Chapel Road, Abbeyknockmoy, Co Galway, has sued over the medical treatment of his wife, a computer plant worker, who died in July 2002, 19 years after she went into a coma following the delivery of her twin girls in 1983.

The girls, who are both now aged 24, were ultimately delivered by Caesarean Section, and it was Ms Keane's first pregnancy.

In earlier hearings, the court was told Mr Keane had spent years in the "blind hope" that his wife might wake up from the coma.

In approving the settlement today Mr Justice Quirke said that this was "an extremely tragic case".

The Judge expressed his "deepest sympathies" to the Keane family. He paid tribute to their courage and told them that he hoped that the matter was over in so far that it could ever be.

The proceedings were initiated by Mr Keane, on behalf of his wife in 2000. However Ms Keane died on July 9, 2002, at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway, allegedly as a result of the injuries sustained during

her labour.

After her death, they were continued on his own behalf and on behalf of the couple's twin daughters.

It was alleged there was a failure to diagnose that Ms Keane was expecting twins prior to her admission to hospital and a failure to intervene in the pregnancy before a pre-eclampsia process became uncontrolled and eclampsia developed.

Pre-eclampsia is a condition that can result in a pregnant woman's blood pressure rising to dangerously high levels and, if undetected, it can lead to eclampsia, a potentially fatal form of the condition.

Mr Keane, a storeman, claimed there was a failure to perform a Caesarean section in time to prevent the development of pre-eclampsia and that his late wife's pregnancy was prolonged in such a manner that it posed a risk of serious injury to her.

It was further claimed that Agnes Keane was admitted to Galway Regional Hospital on June 29, 1983 suffering from pre-eclampsia and was kept in the hospital.

Several days later Mr Keane claimed his wife had pre-eclamptic fits, following which, her labour was induced by artificial rupture of the membranes. The twins were successfully delivered.

After that, she was given an epidural anaesthetic following which she had a full-blown convulsion.

It was claimed Ms Keane then became unresponsive even to moderate painful stimuli and was having generalised fits and impaired responsiveness.

Ms Keane suffered severe and irreversible brain damage and was in a permanent vegetative state requiring constant care, it was claimed.

She was unable to swallow, was fed through a tube and had no hope of any clinical improvement.

In earlier proceedings, Mr Justice Quirke ruled that the Western Health Board was not entitled to indemnity against the estate of the late Dr Fergus Meehan in proceedings brought by Mr Keane.

Dr Meehan, a consultant obstetrician who was allegedly responsible for Ms Keane's management and care during her pregnancy, died in 1991.

Mr Keane had initially sued the WHB and Dr Meehan's estate but just over two years ago (in 2006) the judge ruled that Mr Keane could not, in light of the provisions of the Civil Liability Act 1961, sue Dr Meehan's estate.

He then went on to consider whether the Board could be indemnified by the estate against any damages awarded. However, in a ruling made in November 2006, he said that it could not.

The judge had also previously rejected an application by the Board to halt Mr Keane's action on grounds of delay in bringing it.