The Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has upheld a ruling against the Canary Islands Health Service following the death of a 51-year-old nurse at Doctor Negrín Hospital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The court ordered compensation exceeding €745,000.
The ruling, issued by the law firm Henríquez and Carnero, cited “disproportionate damage” as the basis for its decision. It found that the circumstances surrounding the nurse’s death contradicted her expected clinical progress.
The nurse, who suffered from Crohn’s disease, underwent surgery in January 2022, where a central venous catheter was implanted to provide parenteral nutrition. However, this treatment resulted in fluid accumulation in her pleural cavities, leading to her gradual suffocation, as confirmed by the court.
Despite the family providing solid expert evidence, the health service only presented conclusions based on clinical notes. The court insisted that the administration failed to adequately explain the causes of death and could not rationally clarify whether the fluid was lymph or parenteral nutrition.
The court affirmed a primary compensation amount of €659,387, along with legal interest accrued since the family’s administrative claim on January 18, 2023, bringing the total to over €745,000.
In its appeal, the administration argued that the initial ruling incorrectly assessed evidence, claiming there was no lab test confirming the type of fluid found in the patient’s lungs. The court, however, stated that any potential error would be “irrelevant” since the basis for the ruling was disproportionate damage.
The presiding judge, Inmaculada Rodríguez Falcón, noted that the health service’s objection to the decision was not entirely accurate, as the biochemical analysis was documented merely in a clinical note by on-call doctors and lacked the formality of a proper report.
