Widow faces legal bill as doctors are cleared

A High Court judge dismissed all claims of improper care made by Bernie Magill over the treatment of her husband Brian during the final weeks of his life.

Mr Justice Gillen's ruling in the marathon lawsuit completely vindicated the Royal Victoria and Belfast City Hospitals, the Ulster Independent Clinic, and their staff.

It also left Mrs Magill, a university lecturer from Portrush, who fought the case without a lawyer, facing a legal bill expected to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds for the costs of a 45-day trial.

Rejecting each of her allegations, including that a doctor went to strike her during a row, the judge said: "She has become consumed by a smouldering sense of injustice over the years since his death which I am afraid is quite unjustified on the facts."

Mrs Magill brought proceedings over her husband's death at the City Hospital in December 1999.

The 66-year-old was transferred there from the Royal Victoria Hospital after first being admitted to the Ulster Independent Clinic. All three institutions were sued, along with a number of senior doctors and medical staff.

A post-mortem report attributed his death to liver cancer, but his wife claims it was caused by blood poisoning after a bile duct was perforated.

In a summary of his 170-page judgment, Mr Justice Gillen held there was no evidence to suggest incompetent or negligent care.

He also found no basis for the claims made against doctors named as defendants, declaring that he became increasingly convinced as the case unfolded that it was Mrs Magill who lacked credibility.

The judge expressed his fear that she had "bewilderingly transposed her sad and traumatic recollections of the condition of her husband in the final days of his life back to an earlier period of his treatment despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary".

Mr Justice Gillen further stressed the impact on the defendants and their families to have the shadow of professional negligence hanging over them for years.

He also awarded costs to the defendants, despite submissions from Mrs Magill that serious issues of public interest had been involved and she would face severe hardship if forced to pay the opposition's legal bill.

She confirmed following the ruling that she plans to appeal both the judgment and costs order.

Outside the court Mr Magill's family - who had not supported his second wife's case - expressed satisfaction at the outcome.

Elwin Ward, the husband of Mr Magill's daughter Fiona, said they have never believed he suffered any negligence.

"We take comfort in the knowledge that Brian received qualified and sensitive medical attention right up until the time of his unfortunate death," he said.

"Today a cloud has been lifted from our family, and we are relieved Brian's memory can finally be left to rest in peace."