Justices Kiefel and Keane today refused special leave to appeal the decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal in Mules v Ferguson [2015] QCA 5. The case concerned the liability of a general practitioner for failing to refer a patient who was suffering neck stiffness to a specialist. The patient went on to sustain devastating personal injuries, including blindness and loss of hearing, as a result of contracting cryptococcal meningitis. At trial, the patient was unsuccessful in establishing liability. Shane Doyle QC successfully overturned the trial judge’s finding regarding liability on appeal, and has now defended that result before the High Court. The patient was awarded approximately $6.7 million in damages, which ranks as one of the largest in the state’s history.
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