The patient’s claim against the surgeon alleged that he had been negligent in fitting the band and that it had become unclipped because it was not secured properly.

The MDU asked an independent consultant general surgeon to give an opinion in relation to the performance of the surgery. The expert found that:

The operation note written by the surgeon was of a good quality.
The fact that patient recorded good progress with a weight loss of at least 3 stones suggests that the band was correctly placed and properly clipped together.
The unclipping was a recognised complication of the procedure.
The original surgery performed by the MDU member was not in any way substandard and any allegations against him are unfounded.

On the member’s behalf, we denied liability in relation to the claim, and to prevent the costs escalating if the claim was prolonged, we made a ‘drop hands’ offer to the claimant’s solicitors. This means that the claim is discontinued, with both parties paying their own costs.

The claimant’s solicitors made a counter offer to settle the claim for damages of £10,000. We restated our ‘drop hands’ offer with a caveat that discontinuance would not be an option after the expiry date of the offer, and we would then seek repayment of our costs.

The claimant’s solicitors agreed to discontinue the claim against the surgeon and no compensation was paid to the claimant.

Funke Oduwole
Claims handler

'Drop hands' offer

'Drop hands' offer