The Court of Appeal has upheld a €44,460 damages award to Roisin Milmoe over negligent aftercare following breast implant removal and uplift surgery arranged through River Medical Group in Dublin.
Ms Milmoe underwent surgery in Waterford in November 2015. She later developed an infection after being discharged without ongoing antibiotic cover. Antibiotic treatment began three days later. Her claim did not concern the surgical procedures themselves, but the consequences of the delayed treatment.
The High Court accepted expert evidence from consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon Mr Sinclair that the absence of prophylactic antibiotics fell below the required standard of care and contributed to increased scarring and delayed healing.
The difficulty was quantifying how much of the final scarring resulted from the infection rather than the surgery itself. The trial judge assessed the additional contribution at 35%. Using €90,000 as a full-value figure for breast scarring, she awarded €31,500 for that element, plus €8,500 for the additional treatment and recovery burden. Ms Milmoe also received €3,500, representing half the surgery cost, and €960 for therapy.
River Medical argued on appeal that the judge could not properly select a 35% figure because the expert could not give a precise percentage.
Mr Justice Charles Meenan rejected that argument. He said courts are not required to abandon damages assessment merely because expert evidence cannot provide mathematical precision. The judge was entitled to apply reason and common sense to the evidence, including the accepted finding that infection worsened the scarring.
The court also upheld the refusal to make a differential costs order. Although the damages fell within Circuit Court limits, the High Court judge had been entitled to consider the potential value and complexity of the scarring claim and the absence of any earlier warning seeking to have the case remitted.
The appeal was dismissed. The court’s provisional view was that Ms Milmoe should receive her appeal costs.