Legal action likely against health department in Jersey

Lawyer Giles Emmanuel called the report "damning"

More than 100 people could take legal action against Jersey's health department because of poor treatment they had for joint and muscle problems.

An independent report showed patients were misdiagnosed and staff relied on pharmaceutical companies for training likely to be "heavily biased".

Chief officer Chris Bown apologised, and said the department was prepared to discuss compensation.

Partner at Viberts law firm, Giles Emmanuel, called the report "damning".

'Devastated peoples lives'

"From one end of the spectrum, lethargy, all way through to spinal injuries and potentially the wheelchair-bound, it has devastated peoples lives," he said.

The report said it was concerned that some specialist staff in the rheumatology department were "self-taught", or sought out their own education and training online - and then prescribed drugs without any official control.

It said it was "concerned to learn that some of the training for specialist nurses was being provided by the pharmaceutical industry".

The report continued: "The review team were of the view that the reliance on pharmaceutical companies for drug information and training should be discouraged as it was likely to be heavily biased."

The review team said they were reassured that a process was under way to recruit a properly trained consultant.

Mr Emmanuel said his company had already met 50 patients, and expected to see about the same amount in the future.

He said: "Having a large number of clients on the same types of action is very helpful because there'll be a lot of synergies between the different claims.

"We may do a representative action, we may get the other benefits, such as having reports that can help more than one client - and yes, there will be significant savings for them."

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