A VALENCIA mother who received minor burns when the surgical drapes around her caught on fire while undergoing a caesarian section at the Sangre Grande in 2016 will receive compensation.

In a judgment on Monday, a master of the High Court awarded Clarissa James, 34, a total of $85,000 in damages plus interest and costs.

In her decision, Master Martha Alexander said the entire burning incident was “unfortunate.”

“That a patient under the charge of a team of doctors could have sustained burns during the procedure was shocking, to say the least.”

Alexander acknowledged the burns James received were minor which healed without evidence of lasting, ghastly scaring and the operation continued. However, she added, “this was a defendant who had perpetrated a wrong on the claimant, offered treatment to her but then sought to downplay her evidence as to pain and suffering.”

Alexander said, “It was borne in mind that the defendant’s negligent act had caused the burn injuries and resultant pain and overall suffering. The defendant cannot seriously expect to benefit from its wrong by decrying the evidence as to the claimant’s pain and suffering as unbelievable.

“The defendant also could not escape with a slight tap on the hand for the wrong done by its surgical hands.

“For the suffering that was endured, both physical and mental, she must be awarded fair compensation. The defendant cannot avoid its responsibility to pay appropriate or fair compensation for the wrong done to the claimant by dismissing her pains as nonexistent or alleviated completely by pain medication.”

She did, however, rule that James was not entitled to inflated damages.

James’s upper body was set on fire while in the operating theatre and while she was under anaesthesia. An instrument used by the medical team sparked, setting fire to the drapes.

The fire burned the front of the surgical first assistant’s gown and James’s stomach, chest below the left breast and her left thigh. After the fire was extinguished, the surgery continued successfully.

“The burns suffered by the claimant were caused by the medical team’s negligence,” Alexander said.

The Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) which operates the hospital was found negligent and the matter was sent to the Master for assessment of damages. At the assessment, the ERHA did not dispute the incident but disputed the severity of the injuries and the quantum of damages sought by James.

Since she could not support the claims for special and aggravated damages, the matter proceeded only for general damages.

At the evidence stage at the assessment hearing, the ERHA called four witnesses: four witnesses: Dr Dale Hassranah, Dr Kristy Mendes and Dr Rhonette Spalding who were all treating doctors; as well as Dr Adesh Sirjusingh, medical chief of staff/administrator of clinical services, Sangre Grande, who met James after the incident.

The medical evidence of the doctors was accepted but Alexander’s decision pointed out that the ERHA sought to build a case that after the incident, Ja