Man’s voice box ‘unnecessarily removed’

A 63-year-old truck driver who had his voice box unnecessarily removed in a 14-hour operation at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, has sued the HSE for damages.

Father of four and grandfather Kevin McMahon the High Court heard now has no natural voice and can only speak through an artificial voice box. His counsel Liam Reidy said when he was first at the hospital in 2010, Mr McMahon had a throat lesion which was at the first level of cancer and targeted radiotherapy would have cured him.

The operation to remove Mr McMahon’s voice box in January 2011, counsel said, was completely over the top and too radical. Experts on the McMahon side would say the cancer which by January 2011 had reached the third level could have been treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The operation, the McMahon experts would say, was totally inappropriate and caused significant damage and distress.