The High Court has set aside the renewal of a clinical negligence summons brought by Roberta Moore over serious injuries suffered during surgery at Cavan General Hospital in January 2018.
Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan ruled on July 28, 2026, that Moore had not established the “special circumstances” required to revive proceedings which expired unserved in January 2021.
Moore underwent a hysteroscopy, D&C and polypectomy on January 30, 2018. During the procedure her uterus and sigmoid colon were perforated. Emergency surgery followed, including removal of part of her bowel and creation of a colostomy, which remained for about five months.
A Personal Injuries Summons was issued in January 2020 shortly before the limitation period expired. It was not served because Moore subsequently received expert medical advice which did not support a negligence claim. She accepted that advice and decided not to continue the proceedings.
The position changed in January 2024 when, according to Moore, a consultant at the Mater Hospital told her that what had happened was “not right” and “preventable”. She instructed new solicitors, who obtained a supportive report from consultant gynaecologist Matthew Izett-Kay in November 2024. The High Court renewed the expired summons in March 2025.
The HSE applied to set that renewal aside.
Phelan J accepted that the 2024 consultation understandably caused Moore to reconsider her earlier decision. However, she held that it did not reveal a new fact, record or previously unknown complication. The later report represented a different professional assessment of substantially the same material available years earlier.
The judge also placed significant weight on the more than three-year period during which the proceedings were effectively abandoned. She said delay itself can prejudice both defendants and the administration of justice, particularly in surgical negligence cases where witness recollection may matter alongside medical records.
The March 2025 renewal order was therefore set aside. The court left the precise form of order and consequential matters for further submissions.