Court rejects aspirin case

The High Court today in Britain has rejected a damages claim by 22-year-old Amanda Smith who claimed the Government was negligent in not issuing a speedier warning over a connection between aspirin and a neurological condition which left her severely brain damaged.

Amanda Smith, who is now 22, was a healthy six-year-old until she contracted chickenpox in May 1986 and was given adult aspirin by her mother, Jenny.

A few days later, Amanda’s condition deteriorated into a severe neurological illness - Reye’s Syndrome.

Despite expert care at London’s Guy’s Hospital, she was left with brain damage, a form of spastic quadriplegia and epilepsy, and is not expected to live beyond the age of 40.