§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2020

Plan v El-Amir & Anor

[2020] EWHC 2902 (QB)·High Court (Queen's Bench Division)·2 November 2020

A 79-year-old with macular degeneration was persuaded to have an intraocular lens implant in her better eye without proper informed consent, then developed raised eye pressure that the surgeon left untreated for five weeks. Stacey J found the surgeon negligent both in consenting and in delaying laser treatment, causing total blindness in that eye.

Outcome

Claimant succeeded

Sum stated in judgment

Not stated

Claim type

Clinical Negligence

Decided

Liability decided at trial

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: Mr Ahmed El-Amir (ophthalmic surgeon); London Eye Hospital Ltd

Injury: Glaucoma and permanent loss of all sight in the right eye after a private lens implant for macular degeneration

Specialty: Ophthalmology (intraocular lens implant) · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“I therefore find that in relation to the second set of allegations the first defendant failed to provide the claimant with advice, care and surgical treatment to the reasonable standard expected which caused the glaucoma damage to her right eye”
[2020] EWHC 2902 (QB) at [93] · read the full judgment

The money

Liability only; quantum to be assessed separately

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Private eye surgeons must obtain genuinely informed consent and act promptly on post-operative complications. A delay that materially contributes to permanent damage is enough for liability even if some harm had already occurred.

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§ MORE CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE JUDGMENTS

Claimant succeeded£550,000

Alexander v HCA International Limited & Anor

[2026] EWHC 1284 (KB)·2026·Liability decided at trial

A patient developed life-threatening pancreatitis after a gallstone-removal ERCP. The judge found the consultant never prescribed or instructed the standard preventive diclofenac suppository, so it was not given, and entered judgment for £550,000 against him.

Failing to give a recognised prophylactic drug before a procedure can be negligent even in private care. The prescribing doctor, not the hospital, carried the liability here.

Claim failed

O'Brien v Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Trust

[2022] EWHC 2735 (KB)·2022·Liability decided at trial

A man with end-stage kidney failure was given a single 400mg gentamicin dose for a chest infection and suffered permanent balance and hearing damage. His sister's claim failed because the judge accepted that a high dose was a reasonable choice for a worsening infection with sepsis risk, despite his renal impairment.

A drug dose that causes known side-effects is not automatically negligent if it was a reasonable clinical judgement in the circumstances. Departing from a hospital guideline is not itself proof of negligence.

Claim failed

Barrett v Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

[2015] EWHC 2627 (QB)·2015·Liability decided at trial

A diabetic electrician's eye pressure rose to 40-56 mmHg in the days after retinal surgery and was managed with drugs rather than urgent further surgery. The judge held that continuing medical treatment was a logical clinical judgment supported by a responsible body of eye surgeons and dismissed the claim, including the late-raised consent argument.

Choosing medical management over urgent surgery is not negligent if a responsible body of specialists would have done the same. A Montgomery-style consent argument will fail if the patient would have followed the specialists' recommendation anyway.

All clinical negligence judgments →

Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0. Judgments from Find Case Law, The National Archives. Summaries are ours; amounts only where printed in the judgment.

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