Blood blunder

A woman mistakenly transfused with blood intended for another patient with the same first and last names at University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in March 2006 has won nearly twice the $4 million in general damages awarded by the Supreme Court after successfully challenging the decision in the Appeal Court.

According to the Appeal Court, instead of the $4 million awarded by the Supreme Court judge, the woman should have been awarded the sum of $7,600,000 for “pain and suffering and loss of amenities”. The judges of the appeal, after hearing arguments from attorney Denise SeniorSmith, who represented the woman, said: “The complaint that the measure of damages was either inordinately low or grossly inadequate is irresistible.”

“In short, in the judgment of this court, the award made to the appellant by the learned judge was an entirely erroneous estimate of the damages to which the appellant was entitled,” the Appeal Court stated.