Court victory for woman left brain-damaged by GP blunders

A young woman left brain damaged after two doctors failed to spot she had a form of pneumonia has won her 11-year court fight for a multi-million- pound payout.

Morwenna Ganz became ill at the age of 14 but was sent home by her GP, Dr Amanda Childs, who told her she was suffering from a viral illness.

As her symptoms became worse with what turned out to be mycoplasma pneumonia, a form of bacterial pneumonia, she was told by out-of-hours GP Dr John Lloyd that the previous diagnosis had been correct.

When her condition deteriorated further her mother again called an out-of-hours service and Miss Ganz, of Teddington, was transferred to hospital but it was more than two hours before she received specialist treatment - despite her condition being noted as urgent - and she fell into a coma.

Miss Ganz, now 25, suffered severe and irreversible brain damage during her illness in 1999, which has left her unable to speak and needing 24-hour care from her family.

A High Court judge has now ruled that the two GPs were negligent and in breach of their duty. Mr Justice Foskett gave his verdict after a nine-day hearing, ruling that Miss Ganz's brain damage could have been avoided and that the doctors would have to pay damages, expected to amount to several million pounds. He said Kingston Hospital, where Miss Ganz was treated, had been in breach of its duty but that it was not possible to tell if earlier action would have made any difference.

Miss Ganz, who now lives in Houston, Texas, is not able to speak but can communicate in three languages using signing systems and computers.

Her intellect has been preserved but she has not been able to go to university as planned and needs constant care from her mother Kenia, father Marcus and carers. The amount of damages has yet to be assessed and the GPs, who deny any wrongdoing, are considering an appeal.

Miss Ganz's solicitor Bernadette McGhie said after the ruling: "As Morwenna's sister and brother and her friends grow up she is increasingly aware of what she is missing out on in life as a consequence of her injuries."