A man who was unlawfully detained in a psychiatric hospital and wrongly prescribed anti-psychotic drugs for more than a decade has had his compensation from health authorities reduced from almost €3 million to €500,000 in an out-of-court settlement.
John Manweiler (64) had been awarded almost €3 million by a High Court jury last April in a case in which he sought damages for personal injury, false imprisonment and the breach of his constitutional rights.
The former Eastern Health Board appealed the award to the Supreme Court. Legal sources have confirmed that the reduced award was settled before the issue was determined.
It is believed Mr Manweiler's legal team accepted a reduced payment in the light of a series of Supreme Court rulings in which awards for general damages have been dramatically reduced.
Mr Manweiler alleged he was unlawfully detained in St Brendan's Hospital, Grangegorman, from September until December 1984 and for a time in November 1991. He also claimed he was forced to take an anti-psychotic drug named Clopixol when discharged from hospital, which he did not want to take, for a decade.
The case placed a spotlight on procedures used by consultants to detain patients involuntarily in psychiatric hospitals.
The rules governing these procedures are due to change under new legislation providing for mental health tribunals, which promise a speedy review of all involuntary detention cases.
Mr Manweiler could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
A legal source said: "The [ High Court] jury award was in excess of new limits being set by the Supreme Court over the last 15 years for general damages and was always likely to be substantially reduced by the court."
General damages relate to awards where an exact monetary value for injuries cannot be calculated. They differ from special damages, which relate to specific costs, injuries or loss of income. Mr Manweiler's €3 million original award comprised general damages.
Despite the reduction in the award, the High Court ruling may have implications for other patients who claim they were wrongfully detained in psychiatric hospitals. A number of solicitors are understood to be examining other patient cases in the light of the High Court ruling.
In that decision, jurors found that health authorities did not have "good and sufficient reason" to consider it proper to detain Mr Manweiler in September 1984.
The jury also decided that health authorities were negligent in prescribing Clopixol - an anti-psychotic drug - for Mr Manweiler in December 1984, and that doctors were negligent in continuing that treatment for a decade.
Latest figures show there were 23,031 admissions to psychiatric hospitals in 2003. About 10 per cent were involuntary.
Regional differences in committal rates mean patients are up to three times more likely to be detained against their will depending on the part of the State where they live.
Up to 600 patients detained against their will in psychiatric hospitals will have the legal status of their detention reviewed by independent experts when the new procedures come into force.
There is concern among campaigners and health professionals at the relatively high rates of detention in psychiatric hospitals in Ireland compared to other European countries.
