A woman from Melbourne in Australia has won her legal battle against a surgeon who carried out botched breast reduction surgery which left her with a gaping golf-ball sized hole in her chest.
Bronwyn Hooper, 47, made a no win no fee claim against surgeon Dr Narine Efe after she was left disfigured by the operation in April 2004. During the initial surgery, Ms Hooper had 1.5kg of tissue removed from each of her breasts but afterwards she suffered from months of pain.
She needed to undergo a further six operations to repair the damage caused by Dr Efe, and the final procedure was in October 2006, a full two-and-a-half years after the original breast reduction surgery had taken place.
Melbourne County Court Judge Frank Saccardo agreed that Dr Efe had breached her duty of care to Ms Hooper, and awarded the claimant $133,000 (£77,000) in compensation.
Ms Hooper said afterwards that suing the surgeon had been a big decision for her, adding that most people did not win compensation claims against doctors. She was said to be ‘ecstatic’ at the outcome.
