High Court dismisses claim of negligence against GP at SouthDoc

Reasonable diagnosis of gastroenteritis was made but girl was later admitted to CUH and subsequently underwent surgery for a perforated appendix

The court heard the child was brought to the SouthDoc clinic in circumstances where she had been feeling unwell since the previous day. File picture: Eddie O'Hare

The High Court has dismissed a woman's claim of negligence against a GP for allegedly failing to identify acute appendicitis which she claimed caused a three-day delay in diagnosis resulting in a perforated appendix.

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds found that Dr Rachel Finnegan, who has more than 20 years’ experience, including in out‑of‑hours services, made a reasonable diagnosis of gastroenteritis on then 11-year-old Maria Afolabi on December 13, 2017.