A judge has ruled that a former Ninewells Hospital surgeon must pay a patient’s £2.8million compensation in full.
Lord Uist ruled that bungling Muftah Salem Eljamel’s negligence left a woman with "life-changing injuries”.
He concluded the medic was entirely to blame for leaving Carolyn Almond-Roots with serious disabilities.
Earlier this year she sued Mr Eljamel and NHS Tayside after developing a rare spinal condition - called Cauda Equina Syndrome - in 2013.
But in a 32-page written judgment issued yesterday - the Law Lord concluded the illness only developed after Eljamel’s negligence and ordered him to pay the full costs.
And he concluded it would be ‘unjust’ to find NHS Tayside liable to contribute to any damages.
The judge wrote: “It seems to me that the moral blameworthiness and causative potency of the negligence for which the second defenders (NHS Tayside) are responsible is vastly outweighed by that for which the first defender is responsible.”
And he added: “In my judgment it would be unjust to find the second defenders liable to contribute to the damages for the Cauda Equina syndrome which the pursuer has suffered.”
Mr Eljamel was head of neurosurgery at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
Ms Almond-Roots attended the A&E department there in 2013 and was then referred to the department of neurosurgery.
A senior nurse, working under Mr Eljamel, examined her and believed she required an emergency MRI scan and specialist surgery.
But Ms Almond-Roots was discharged after Mr Eljamel decided she did not have the spinal condition Cauda Equina syndrome and could have a scan as an outpatient.
He later operated on Ms Almond-Roots at Fernbrae Hospital in Dundee after she opted to be treated privately.
The court heard how she later complained to Mr Eljamel about her condition worsening.
She was prescribed steroids for nerve root damage by the surgeon and was referred again to Ninewells where it was revealed her condition was "irreversible".
Ms Almond-Roots was awarded £2,810,118 following proceedings at the Court of Session earlier this year.
The award was made after both Mr Eljamel and NHS Tayside accepted liability for Ms Almond-Roots's injuries.
Lord Uist then heard submissions from lawyers about apportion - how much blame each party should bear as a consequence of their wrongdoings.
Lawyers for Mr Eljamel had argued equal blame in the case should be attributed to the negligence of NHS Tayside.
Lord Uist disagreed and ordered Eljamel to pay the entire compensation.
Eljamel can no longer work in the UK after removing himself from the General Medical Council (GMC) register when restrictions were placed on him.
In 2018 The Daily Record revelaed how a mum of two had a tear gland removed instead of a brain tumour by bungling Eljamel.
He operated on marathon runner, Jules Rose, 50, after the tumour was diagnosed when she sought laser eye correction in 2013.
She thought she was in the hands of the best surgeon in Scotland and it was only after checking her file that she learned he had wrongly identified the tear gland as a tumour.
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