Premier’s doctor partner sued over claims of post-op surgery mistake
Reza Adib, a high-profile surgeon and partner of Annastacia Palaszczuk, is facing legal action from a gastric bypass patient.
Police & Courts
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A high-profile surgeon in a relationship with the Queensland Premier is facing legal action from a patient who says she was left with neurological damage because doctors repeatedly failed to diagnose and treat her post-operative symptoms.
Jade Harrington has launched a civil claim against Dr Vahid Reza Adib and the Metro North Hospital and Health Service alleging she suffered “significant personal injuries” as a consequence of the “delayed and or negligent diagnosis”.
In a notice of claim filed in the Brisbane Supreme Court, Ms Harrington said Dr Adib performed her gastric bypass surgery on July 7, 2020 at the Wesley Hospital and she was discharged two days later on July 9.
Weight-loss surgeon Dr Adib began dating Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in 2021 and the pair are regularly photographed together.
Dr Adib and the HHS are yet to file a defence.
Dr Adib’s lawyer, Gregg Sivyer, declined to comment and a spokeswoman for Metro North said it was unable to comment “due to privacy and legal reasons”.
In her claim, Ms Harrington states: “I was followed up by him (Dr Adib) and he suggested I present through the public system as I had no private health insurance cover and had funded the surgery with him by drawing down on my superannuation.”
“I presented several times to Redcliffe Hospital and, later, at the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital.
Following the surgery. I was eventually, but belatedly, diagnosed with Wernicke’s encephalopathy (WE) on 25 September, 2020.”
Wernicke’s encephalopathy is a neurological condition caused by a vitamin deficiency and can impact vision, muscle co-ordination and lead to cognitive issues.
Court documents state Ms Harrington, aged 30, is seeking damages for personal injuries arising from the gastric bypass and subsequent follow ups in which WE was not diagnosed or treated which she alleges caused or permitted the condition to develop.
“Ultimately, by way of summary … it took seven visits to hospital and many follow up visits from the surgeon to even recognise my condition,” the claim states.
“I have suffered a serious complication of WE after undergoing roux-en-y gastric bypass.”
An extract from a medical report included in the claim states that Ms Harrington suffers ongoing balance and walking issues, often requiring the use of a walking stick and wheelchair.
The claim states she suffers from sensory loss, numbness, visual impairments, and cranial nerve palsy.
“Simply, I cannot walk, stand from a seated position without support,” the claim alleges.
“My husband even needs to assist me with showering and supervise me as I am unbalanced.
“I continue to experience difficulties with my eyesight, mostly the jerking nature of my eye movements. I also struggle with cognitive dysfunction and memory issues.”
Ms Harrington claims the respondents “failed to provide me with medical services to the applicable standard of care” and “failed to adequately safeguard against the risk of a diagnosis of WE”.
She also alleges Dr Adib failed “to be unequivocally appropriately involved in my post-operative management”.
“As a consequence of the negligent treatment, misdiagnosis, and failure to timeously treat, I have sustained significant personal injuries,” the claim states.
According to court documents Ms Harrington had consultations with Dr Adib on March 12, 2020, the day of the surgery on July 7, post-operative consultations on July 8 and 9, and another appointment on September 21.
“He ought to have counselled me about the risk of developing WE and to present to him for ongoing clinical management,” her claim states.
“The Second PIPA Respondent (Dr Adib) on 20 July 2020 in his letter to my GP recommended an iron fusion, advocated I take vitamins, but failed to thereafter follow me up so as to ensure continuity of care after my serious operation. I did as he recommended.”
Ms Harrington said she presented at the hospitals in the Metro North HHS cluster on multiple occasions after her surgery, starting on July 25, 2020 when she was given anti-nausea medication and discharged.
On August 9, 2020, she again presented at the Redcliffe ED complaining of days of cramping and pain. Doctors concluded the complaints were due to post-surgical complications and discharged her the same day.
The following day on August 10 she was diagnosed with gallstones and discharged days later on August 14.
“I presented again on 31 August 2020 after experiencing four days of nausea and being unable to tolerate liquid, on a background of not being able to tolerate food for two weeks,” the claim states.
“I had an elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy on 7 September, 2020. Such procedure afforded no resolution; I was discharged on 9 September 2020 but re-attended Redcliffe ED again on 14 September 2020. I continued vomiting after this surgery and explained I had not properly eaten since the bypass surgery.”
On September 23, she attended the RBWH but was discharged with anti-nausea medication.
“I was feeling weak and dizzy, vomiting, passing loose stool and continued to struggle to keep food down,” Ms Harrington said.
“I experienced blurred vision and visual disturbances from the last two days prior, with loss of feeling in the lower half of my body, coupled with weakness in my legs.”
The next day on September 24 an optometrist diagnosed her with an eye movement disorder and recommended she go to the Emergency Department where an MRI scan “indicated classical findings for WE”.
“I was also diagnosed with severe malnutrition and had a thiamine deficiency,” the claim states.
Ms Harrington spent two weeks in the RBWH neurology department and then several more weeks in a rehabilitation service for intensive physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
She says her condition has been diagnosed as chronic.
By consent of all parties, the Supreme Court has made an order that Ms Harrington be granted leave to commence proceedings pursuant to the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act.
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