Mia-Angel Bridges-Cole by her litigation guardian Chantelle Sheree Bridges v Dr Zaffar Hussain; Chantelle Sheree Bridges v Dr Zaffar Hussain

The plaintiff, Mia-Angel Bridges-Cole, brought proceedings against Dr Zaffar Hussain, a general practitioner, alleging that he was negligent in his treatment of her on two separate occasions. Mia-Angel was later diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The plaintiff was represented by her litigation guardian, Chantelle Sheree Bridges.

The court was required to determine whether Dr Zaffar Hussain breached his duty of care to Mia-Angel by failing to correctly diagnose her condition. The court also had to consider the reliability of the evidence provided by the plaintiff's mother and tutor, Chantelle Bridges, and the impact of this on the findings regarding liability. Additionally, the court had to consider whether the defendant's expert medical evidence was admissible despite being served outside of the prescribed time period.

The court found that Dr Zaffar Hussain did not breach his duty of care to Mia-Angel. The unchallenged expert evidence supported the appropriateness of the defendant's conduct. The court also found that the plaintiff's mother was an unreliable witness due to her combative and argumentative demeanour, and her repeated failures to properly respond to questions. The court found that her unreliability had a significant impact on the factual findings relating to the issue of liability. Despite the defendant's expert medical evidence being served outside of the prescribed time period, the court found that the evidence was admissible as the delay was not prejudicial to the plaintiff. The verdict was in favour of the defendant.

The court made no orders as to costs.