CANBERRA orthopaedic surgeon Richard Hocking has settled a case after a claim was lodged in the ACT Supreme Court, according to one of the lawyers involved.
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A statement of claim lodged on behalf of 46-year-old public servant Kim Harstorff has alleged Dr Hocking partially severed her left sciatic nerve.
In the documents lodged on June 25 last year, it was alleged Ms Harstorff went to Dr Hocking with hip pain bad enough to wake her up during the night.
After the operation she was left with alleged problems in the leg including deformity, hypersensitivity in her left foot, painful tingling and shooting pain in her left calf and foot and intermittent cramps in her left hamstring as well as an inability to squat, kneel on her left knee, walk properly or stand for any period of time painlessly.
The claim documents said Ms Harstorff was employed at the Department of Human Services, Ageing, Disability and Home Care at the time of the March 2010 operation.
Ms Harstorff's lawyer, Gerard Rees, said the case had been settled out of court and that Ms Harstorff was satisfied with the way the matter was resolved.
Dr Hocking did not comment when asked, via his legal representation, about the details of the case.
It is not known whether the matter is related to allegations already investigated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency or legal action Dr Hocking is taking against the ACT Medical Board at the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The Canberra Times first reported in August that to protect the public Dr Hocking had been stopped from doing certain surgeries unsupervised - including trauma surgery involving major pelvic injuries - and told by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to do at least a year of retraining.
As reported last week, the ACT Medical Board is trying to put a set of extra restrictions on Dr Hocking but the surgeon is arguing he was not given a fair opportunity to argue his case.
