A SPANISH court has ordered Valencia’s regional health ministry to pay €100,000 in compensation to the family of a young woman from the Costa Blanca who was left in a vegetative state after drinking a milkshake.
Marta Perez, from Ibi in Alicante, was aged just 19 when she suffered a severe allergic reaction in September 2022, leaving her in a coma which has persisted to this day.
The ruling, handed down by the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencia Community, found that there were deficiencies in the medical care Marta received before her condition deteriorated.
Marta had attended the Ibi II Integrated Health Centre on September 28, 2022, after developing what doctors diagnosed as acute tonsillitis.
She was prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication, but the court found that although she told nursing staff she had a serious nut allergy, the information was not passed on to the doctor treating her or recorded in her medical history.
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Later that same night, at around 11pm, Marta returned to the health centre in ‘very poor general condition, with breathing difficulties’ and ‘clear symptoms of an anaphylactic episode’.
It was only during this second visit that her nut allergy was recorded in her medical records.
Marta subsequently suffered a cardiac arrest induced by anaphylactic shock, with her heart stopping for around ten minutes.
The resulting lack of oxygen to her brain caused severe anoxic brain damage, leaving her in a state of wakefulness without response – effectively a vegetative state – in which she remains today.
The court was critical of the medial assessment she received, describing it as ‘sparse’ and finding that it ‘did not include enquiry by the treating doctor into relevant details or medical history’.
It also found that the medical attendance record had been completed ‘deficiently’, omitting key details such as the administration of an anti-inflammatory drug.
Despite these shortcomings, the judges stopped short of finding that the medial treatment directly caused Marta’s condition.
Instead, the ruling centred on the concept of ‘loss of opportunity’ – that the deficiencies in the care she received deprived Marta of a real chance of receiving treatment that may have improved her condition.
The court described the case as involving ‘a combination of unfortunate circumstances that led to the serious outcome’, concluding that ‘the medical care provided was without doubt not completely correct’.
Marta’s family had sought more than €4 million in compensation, but the court opted to award €100,000 plus legal interest.
Her family retains the right to appeal the ruling to Spain’s Supreme Court.
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