Solicitor accuses State of ‘deny and defend’ policy on medical negligence

A leading lawyer has accused the State of having a ‘deny and defend’ policy and blamed it for massive payments to lawyers in medical negligence cases.

Cork-based solicitor Ernest Cantillon was commenting yesterday on new figures provided by Health Minister Leo Varadkar that show in one case, the State Claims Agency (SCA) paid out over €1.1m in legal fees to a plaintiff’s lawyers last year.

It formed part of an overall payout of €1.55m to lawyers in the case that involved the highest damages payout last year (€6.5m) made by the SCA in the medical area.