Compensation denied
THE family of a Queensland woman left severely disabled for almost 14 years before her death after she was treated by paramedics for an asthma attack has been denied compensation.
The decision follows a finding from the nation’s highest court that the state government was not negligent in Queensland Ambulance Service’s treatment of the woman.
Jennifer Leanne Masson, 25, was left brain dead after her family alleges she was given the wrong drug by paramedics for a chronic asthma attack, which she had in Cairns in 2002.
Ms Masson suffered an asthma attack shortly after she arrived at a friend’s house 18 years ago.
She was wheezing badly and returned to her car to look for her Ventolin puffer before asking friends to take her to hospital.
She collapsed on the front lawn and her friends began resuscitation.
She was blue in the face and struggling for breath when a paramedic initially injected her with salbutamol, but on the way to hospital her condition deteriorated, causing her to suffer brain damage due to oxygen deprivation.
The officer switched to treating her with adrenaline after he administered twice the maximum dosage of salbutamol recommended by QAS, court documents said.
Ms Masson was left severely disabled and required care for more than 13 years, until her death in 2016.
Her family brought a negligence action against the state government and argued the adrenaline should have been administered sooner and the paramedics were not properly trained.
“The failure was said to be contrary to the instructions in the QAS Clinical Practice Manual,” they argued.
Her family was awarded $3m in compensation after the Queensland Court of Appeal ruled in their favour, following a failed bid to hold the government, as ambulance service provider, accountable.
But the government took the case to the High Court, arguing it was not liable.
In its judgment yesterday, the High Court unanimously ruled in favour of the government, finding the care did “not fall below the standard of care expected of an ordinary skilled intensive care paramedic”.
The family was ordered to pay the costs of the appeal.