Barrister calls for overhaul of medical negligence cases, claiming 'some die waiting' for hearing

Many people die waiting for their cases to be heard as the process takes so long, Doireann O'Mahony BL, said.

Doreann O'Mahony BL says simple changes could transform the stress and trauma surrounding medical negligence cases.  Picture: Miki Barlok

A barrister who specialises in medical negligence litigation has called on the State to introduce a raft of reforms to save time and costs in the legal process as new figures show €315m was paid out by the State Claims Agency (SCA) last year in damages and legal costs.

Doireann O’Mahony, BL, said four plaintiffs she was representing have died since last March while waiting for their cases to be finalised, through no fault of their own or their teams. Their claims effectively died with them.