Mother died after ‘doctor’s failure’
A MOTHER of three died after her GP allegedly failed to diagnose a blood clot, the High Court has heard.
Tragically, the three children of Sheila Tymon, 42 – who were then aged just ten, eight and five – found her dead in bed hours after she left her GP’s surgery with a prescription for an anti-inflammatory. Her husband Michael Tymon and their children sued Dr Martina Cogan, of Keadue Health Centre in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, over the death in June 2013.
Judge Kevin Cross was told yesterday that the case had been settled for €750,000 in compensation, without an admission of liability from the doctor, who had denied the claims.
Mr Tymon, a marine maintenance engineer from Summerhill, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, claimed that his wife had been a patient at the defendant’s surgery since 1991.
In that time, Dr Cogan had noted that Mrs Tymon had high cholesterol, a high body mass index and other risk factors, such as being a smoker, that would place her at risk of cardiovascular disease.
The court heard that she attended the doctor’s surgery on June 27, 2013, and the doctor recorded that Mrs Tymon was experiencing recurring jabs in the front of her chest.
A working diagnosis was made of a muscular skeletal problem, and a prescription for an anti-inflammatory was given. Pearse Sreenan SC said it was the family’s case that Mrs Tymon should have been sent on for further investigation and treatment, and that if this had been done, she would in all probability have survived and gone on to live a full life.
Instead, Mrs Tymon felt reassured by her trip to the doctor. She went home, and at about 7.45pm, her three children – Rachel, Rebecca and Katelyn – decided to check on her as she had left the television room.
They found their mother lying motionless in bed with her eyes open, the court heard.
They called their father, who sped home, calling an ambulance as he drove. However, she could not be revived, and was pronounced dead in the house. A postmortem revealed that Mrs Tymon had extensive cardiovascular disease, and that she had died from acute cardiac failure due to an almost complete narrowing of the artery to her heart. Approving the settlement, Judge Cross offered his sympathy to widower Mr Tymon and his family.
In a statement issued after the court hearing, Mr Tymon said: ‘This is the end of a long journey, which could have been easier and considerably shorter if the [alleged] error of the GP was admitted.
‘Even as this case concludes, no admission of liability or apology has been offered. I am saddened by this, but I feel that I have done my utmost for both Sheila and our daughters in getting answers as to why she died.’