A Queanbeyan woman has had her life ''turned upside down'' after suffering permanent damage from an antibiotic administered at Canberra Hospital, a court has heard.
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The ACT Supreme Court was told the territory ''fell woefully short of its obligations'' when doctors failed to warn Marjorie Freeman about the risks of the drug gentamicin.
Ms Freeman, 64, is allegedly housebound and cannot work after she was given repeated doses of the gentamicin in 2005 and 2006.
She is suing the territory for compensation, alleging that doctors at the hospital did not warn her of the risks and administered the drug despite the fact that safer alternatives were available.
Yesterday the court heard Ms Freeman, a former nurse, was given gentamicin during an operation to insert a stent in one of her ureters in November 2005.
She was given the antibiotic again in January 2006 after going to Canberra Hospital with pain and received a third dose later that month during a 13-minute operation to remove the stent.
The court heard Ms Freeman suffered permanent damage to her vestibular system, which encompasses the inner ear and controls balance and spatial orientation.
She could not walk steadily, was ''essentially housebound'' and could not do much work around the home.
The court heard the third and final dose of gentamicin in late January 2006 was ''the straw that broke the camel's back'' and led to the damage to her inner ear.
Ms Freeman's legal team, led by Catherine Henry Partners, argued that the gentamicin was administered as a preventive measure, rather than to treat any actual infection.
The practice was described as ''misguided'' and the court heard it would have been more appropriate not to give patients any preventive antibiotics, because any infections that did occur later could be treated with safer drugs.
Ms Freeman also had a personal aversion to gentamicin after learning about the drug's side effects during a refresher course on medications for her nursing job.
She also believed gentamicin had been a key factor in her father-in-law suffering hearing problems after being hospitalised in 2001.
Ms Freeman's father-in-law died a year later.
The court heard doctors at the hospital helped Ms Freeman fill out patient consent forms and paperwork before the operation to remove her stent but there was no discussion of any possible complications and no discussion about any drugs that might be administered.
The trial continues before Justice Hilary Penfold today.
