The State Claims Agency (SCA) has received 263 personal injury claims arising from alleged misreading of slides by CervicalCheck.
That is according to new figures provided by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, who has stated that of these 212 relate to clinical care claims brought directly by the service users.
In a written Dáil reply to co-leader of the Social Democrats, Catherine Murphy TD, the Minister said the remaining 51 related to psychological injury claims brought by family members or dependents.
Of the 263 claims received, 31 have been concluded.
The number of claims has risen steadily since last December when there were 231 claims recorded – 188 concerning clinical care and 43 related to psychological injury brought by family members or dependents.
The legal firm operated by Co Tipperary solicitor Cian O’Carroll, which represented Vicky Phelan in the landmark CervicalCheck case in 2018, represents just under half of the women who have taken legal actions.
His firm last year received €5.4 million, including 21-23 per cent VAT, in costs arising from 26 medical negligence claims taken by his firm against the State on behalf of its clients in 2020.
Reforms
Mr O’ Carroll said the figures for plaintiff legal firms like his own “are for total costs meaning that these are the fees for all the barristers, solicitors, medical experts and every other expert involved in a case”.
He said this would often include 10 to 15 medical and allied medical professionals with VAT then added on to all that.
“The costs in these cases have all been agreed with the SCA – none of them had to be adjudicated with the legal costs adjudicator so that shows how they are within the norms of what the State expected to pay having lost each of those cases,” Mr O’Carroll added.
Mr O’Carroll said the obvious answer to reforms that would see a reduction in legal costs and improve the experience for litigants “is that the State would admit liability at an earlier stage and make fair proposals that would help those injured to get on with their lives”.
The top 10 legal firms acting for claimants in all medical negligence cases shared €23.6 million in costs.
The figures show that Michael Boylan Litigation Law Firm has received €4.8 million in legal costs in 21 medical negligence cases taken against the SCA with Cantillon Solicitors receiving €3.47 million in legal costs in 19 medical negligence cases against the SCA.
Others to receive figures more than €2 million include Callan Tansey Solicitors – €3.4 million for 37 cases and Augustus Cullen Law Solicitors – €2.5 million for 21 cases.
Mr Boylan was also critical of the approach by the SCA on behalf of the HSE and the State which he claimed “have often adopted a very adversarial approach and have fought cases for years which should have been settled quickly with liability admitted from the outset”.
Indefensible
He said: “The State are wasting substantial moneys defending the indefensible. I have been saying this for years.”
A spokesman for the SCA said it “seeks to act fairly and ethically in dealing with people who have suffered injuries and/or damage, and their families, in the resolution of claims”.
“In cases where the SCA investigation concludes that the relevant State authority bears some or all liability, it seeks to settle claims expeditiously, and on fair and reasonable terms. If it considers, in individual claims or classes of claim, that the State is not liable or that the amount sought in compensation is excessive, the SCA’s policy is to contest the claim or level of claim.”
