High Court reassures doctor trust

THE landmark High Court ruling against the attempt by disgraced obstetrician Dr Michael Neary to prevent Rosemary Cunningham from suing him for wrongfully removing her left ovary, has profound implications for many women who have suffered at the hands of the doctor.

With two other defendants, the North Eastern Health Board and the Medical Missionaries of Mary, who ran Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Dr Neary claimed Mrs Cunningham’s action was statute barred and should be struck out.

The verdict will be welcomed by 100 other women who claim their wombs were unnecessarily removed by the same doctor and the way is open for those cases to be lodged against the defendants.

In his bid to prevent the action going ahead, Dr Neary, who has been struck off the medical register, asked Mr Justice Ó Caoimh to strike out the proceedings because they fell outside the three-year time limit under the statute of limitations.

Strictly speaking, according to the legal rules, an action should have been taken by Mrs Cunningham within three years of her ovary being removed on August 15, 1991, following her admission to the hospital with an ectopic pregnancy.

However, the judge was satisfied that she was unaware of the damage caused at the time. Since she only discovered in the last 18 months what had really happened, the judge found that her “time of knowledge” was within statutory limits.

Doubtless, the ruling of Mr Justice Ó Caoimh, who accepted Ms Cunningham’s version of events, will reassure thousands of women who routinely place their trust in doctors.