The family of a 77-year-old woman who visited a GP for a blood operation but later died have settled a High Court action following his death.

Mary O’Donoghue was allegedly found unconscious on the floor of a treatment room at the Cork Road clinic in Mallow, Co-Corksome time after undergoing bloodletting four years ago.

Ms O’Donoghue’s daughter, Lisa Conway, Mallow, Co Cork, sued GP Elizabeth Hyde, who practices at Cork Road Clinic, Mallow Primary Healthcare Clinic, Gouldshill, Mallow, Co Cork. All claims were rejected.

The confidential settlement is without acknowledgment of liability. Lead barrister John Lucey said the case was before the court for sharing of the statutory mental distress award of €35,000 only.

During the proceedings it was claimed Ms O’Donoghue was diagnosed in 2019 with a hereditary condition which causes a build-up of iron in the body. A series of therapeutic phlebotomy, which involves regular blood sampling, was organized.

Ms O’Donoghue attended a number of bloodletting appointments at the Cork Road clinic throughout 2019 and January 2020. It was claimed it was not unusual for the pensioner to feel unwell afterwards the blood sample and that she was used to staying at the clinic. until she was well enough to leave, after which she would call her husband and ask him to come and pick her up.

It was claimed on February 5, 2020 that Ms O’Donoghue attended the Cork Road clinic for bloodletting and that GP Elizabeth Hyde consulted her and the bloodletting was carried out in the treatment room.

It was further claimed that after the treatment, Ms O’Donoghue was left alone in the treatment room. Her husband called her and she told him she was ready to leave, but it is claimed he thought she sounded particularly weak on the phone.

David O’Donoghue, when he arrived at the clinic, entered the waiting room but after 20 minutes he noticed a commotion. He was allegedly told that his wife was very ill and that doctors were with her and that he was advised to contact the rest of the family.

It was claimed a nurse practitioner entered the treatment room and found Ms O’Donoghue on the floor near the sofa, unconscious and bleeding from her nose, with no pulse. CPR was started and she was intubated and transferred to Cork University Hospital, where the family later learned she had suffered a brain injury. She died on February 8, 2020.

It was claimed that the clinic did not continue to monitor the pensioner after the bloodletting until she was in a suitable condition to leave the operation and that she was allegedly left alone in the treatment room. the clinic after the procedure.

All claims were rejected.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey expressed his deepest sympathy to Mary O’Donoghue’s family.