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Wilsher v Essex AHA 1988 - Negligence case (Inexperience)

The plaintiff was an infant who was born prematurely suffering from various illnesses, including oxygen deficiency. His prospects of survival were considered poor and he was placed in the 24-hour special care baby unit. While the baby was in the unit, a junior and inexperienced doctor monitoring the oxygen in the plaintiff's bloodstream mistakenly inserted a catheter into a vein instead of an artery, but then asked a senior registrar to check what he had done. The registrar failed to see the mistake and some hours later, when replacing the catheter, did exactly the same thing himself. In both instances the catheter monitor failed to register correctly the amount of oxygen in the plaintiff's blood, with the result that excess oxygen was administered. It was claimed that this caused retro-lental fibroplasia, a condition resulting in near blindness.

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