The High Court has refused Edel McAndrew-Bergson permission to bring proposed defamation proceedings outside the normal time limit over statements concerning her late husband’s psychiatric treatment and access to his medical records.
Her husband died in the UK on 19 March 2022, shortly after discharge from psychiatric inpatient care in Ireland. McAndrew-Bergson, herself a mental health professional, subsequently sought his medical records and later began separate wrongful death proceedings.
The proposed defamation claims concerned records and communications involving a consultant psychiatrist, the HSE, the deceased’s GP and public bodies including the Office of the Information Commissioner. McAndrew-Bergson objected in particular to descriptions suggesting that she and her husband were estranged, references to his daughter as next of kin and later communications questioning her authority to consent to release of his records.
Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan held that the court had no jurisdiction to extend time for defamation claims based on publications made more than two years before the application. That excluded proposed claims concerning several communications and regulatory decisions from 2021 and 2022.
The judge also rejected McAndrew-Bergson’s argument that fraudulent concealment postponed the limitation period. The court found that the reasons records had been withheld — including concerns about the deceased’s wishes and next-of-kin arrangements — had been consistently communicated and were not secretly concealed until discovery in the wrongful death proceedings.
Two communications made within two years of the application received separate consideration: an April 2024 HSE email and a September 2024 telephone call involving the deceased’s GP and the UK Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
The court accepted it had power to extend time for those potential claims but refused to do so. It found the proposed defamation cases weak, publication limited and any reputational damage minimal, while the GP and HSE appeared to have substantial potential defences including qualified privilege.
The judge also noted that McAndrew-Bergson remains able to pursue the separate wrongful death proceedings and obtain relevant records through that litigation. Her application for an extension of time was therefore refused.