State receives 150 claims for Neary redress

ABOUT 150 applications for compensation by women damaged by disgraced obstetrician Dr Michael Neary have been made to the state’s redress scheme through support group Patient Focus.

The scheme, agreed by the Government last April and expected to cost about €45 million, was established to compensate women who suffered needless removal of their wombs and/or ovaries.

The deadline for receipt of applications, extended by four weeks by the Lourdes Hospital redress board to deal with exceptional cases so that newly discovered victims could lodge claims, expired on Tuesday.

Last month, two British consultants discovered 62 new victims of Dr Neary. The doctor had blamed non-existent medical conditions for the removal of their wombs or ovaries at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

Patient Focus spokeswoman and a former patient of Dr Neary, Cathriona Molloy, said they represented about 50 of the new group and had helped process their applications for compensation under the scheme.

The original Neary inquiry, headed up by Judge Maureen Harding Clarke, only looked at women who lost their ovaries in unnecessary hysterectomies during what Dr Neary claimed were medical emergencies during childbirth.

About 129 women underwent needless hysterectomies but not all of them are represented by Patient Focus.

A spokeswoman for the redress board, of which Judge Harding Clarke is the sole member, would not say how many applications were received since the compensation scheme commenced in June.

Patient Focus also represents a group of about 25 women who were damaged by Dr Neary and are now seeking compensation through the State Claims Agency.

The women, who were 40 years or over when they underwent severe gynaecological procedures or had babies die in questionable circumstances, were excluded from the redress scheme.