Record compensation for Australian woman

Australian Louise Crockett was awarded four and a half million Australian dollars (about 3 million US dollars) in 2002 when she successfully sued the doctors who failed to promptly diagnose and treat a brain infection following psychosurgery. The case did not involve the doctors who carried out the operation. Her award was the largest ever paid by the Tasmanian State. It took nearly twenty years for the case to be settled.

Louise became depressed following the birth of her second daughter, who was diagnosed with a heart condition. Although surgery for her daughter’s heart condition was successful, Louise continued to feel depressed. She went to see a psychiatrist and was given tranquillisers and antidepressants. Then she was admitted to hospital and given electroconvulsive treatment. Then her psychiatrist recommended psychosurgery and the operation was carried out in May 1983 at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, New South Wales, just over two years after Louise’s first consultation with a psychiatrist.

The operation was pronounced a success (her nursing notes recorded comments such as “quite cheerful”, “very cheerful” and “talkative”) and Louise was discharged after six days and returned to her home in Tasmania. But two days later the wound started to swell and Louise began to behave oddly and was taken to her local hospital.

It was a delay in diagnosing and treating a brain abscess that led, in the judge’s opinion, to Louise’s respiratory arrest and subsequent brain damage. She was left with movement difficulties, memory loss, and personality problems. Her husband left her.

The award included 700,000 Australian dollars (about 500,000 US dollars) for loss of earnings. I think perhaps Justice Underwood was being optimistic in believing that, following psychosurgery, Louise would have been able eventually to take up “some paid employment involving accounting or the like”.

The judgement can be read here.