The family of Marta Pérez, a young woman who developed brain lesions after consuming a smoothie, will be compensated with 100 thousand euros in damages, according to Telecinco.
A Valencia Court determined that there was a failure that led to the worsening of Marta's health condition, although it also acknowledged that certain errors were not directly the responsibility of the healthcare team assisting her. For this reason, despite approving the compensation, the court set an amount lower than what the young woman's family requested.
What happened?
The incident occurred on September 28, 2022, when Marta consumed a smoothie containing pistachio, a food to which she was allergic. Upon arriving at the hospital, the young woman immediately communicated her condition. However, the nurses responsible for initial care failed to correctly convey the allergy information to the doctors.
Consequently, the doctor diagnosed acute tonsillitis and prescribed a corticosteroid, releasing her home. An hour later, the young woman returned to the center in serious condition, presenting cyanosis and severe respiratory difficulties. She suffered anaphylactic shock followed by cardiopulmonary arrest for approximately ten minutes, falling into a coma and developing severe permanent brain sequelae.
What was said in court
During the legal process, the report presented by the defense, prepared by the Health Services Inspection, argued that the symptoms observed during the first consultation were entirely consistent with tonsillitis, and that the respiratory crisis arose subsequently and unexpectedly.
The prosecution, on the other hand, alleged clear medical negligence, arguing that an appropriate interview regarding the patient's clinical history and allergies was not conducted, and criticizing the diagnosis of tonsillitis without fever for lack of clinical coherence.
However, the technical opinion issued by an internal medicine specialist confirmed that the young woman's initial medical history was 'insufficient and deficient.' This specialist pointed out that a problem with the computer system was a relevant factor, given that the young woman had been registered in the Valencia Health system for only two years, and her history did not contain records of allergic incidents or her previous asthma diagnosis. This suggests a failure in migrating her data from the old health center to the current one, which diminishes some of the blame for the medical conduct.
Nevertheless, the report also criticized the fact that Marta possessed emergency medication for severe allergic reactions but neglected to administer these medications.
The compensation
Given this, and recognizing the setbacks in Marta's diagnosis, the court decided that the family should receive compensation of 100 thousand euros, a value significantly lower than the more than 4 million requested by the family.
The judicial determination clarifies that the medical team missed the opportunity to make an accurate diagnosis for several reasons, but this does not attribute direct responsibility to them. The established amount refers to the emotional suffering resulting from this lost opportunity, and not to the direct physical consequences.