Accident Claims & Personal Injury Lawyers Scotland Blog

European Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli has called on Member States for immediate action to be taken at national level to ensure full and stringent implementation of the current legislation on medical devices.

Following the discovery of the use of non medical grade silicone in breast implants manufactured by the Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) Company in France, the priority now is for the Member States and the Commission to act together to tighten controls, provide a better guarantee of the safety of medical devices and to restore patient confidence in the law that protects them.

Commissioner Dalli has written to Member States asking for their co-operation within the existing legal framework to tighten controls, in order to provide a better guarantee of the safety of medical technology, especially high risk devices. The actions proposed include the following:

A 21-year-old woman from Fife has been awarded just under £62,000 in compensation for a medical error that led to the loss of her two front teeth as a child, reports STV.

The woman had attended the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy when she was six for a routine operation to remove her tonsils. When she woke up after the surgery, she found her two front adult teeth had been knocked out. Attempts were made to re-root the teeth, but these were ultimately unsuccessful.

Since then, she has undergone a number of different treatments, and faces the prospect of more treatment in the future. She also claims she was bullied as a child because of her teeth.

The health authority had admitted liability for the incident, but disputed the £100,000 damages claim. According to STV, a civil jury at the Court of Session awarded her £38,000 for her pain and suffering, £8500 for services and £15,300 for future dental costs.