Deafness

The human ear is a very complex organ and although the outer ear (or pinna) is the most noticeable part the really important components are invisible within the skull. The process of hearing involves molecules in the air being received and translated by the ear into messages that the brain recognises as sounds.

Sound waves enter the outer ear and are directed to the ear drum (tympanic membrane) which then vibrates. The 3 small bones of the middle ear on the other side of the ear drum (the ossicles) then also vibrate transferring the mechanical movement to the cochlea (inner ear) where it stimulates the fibres of the auditory nerve. From here the messages go directly to the brain where they are processed.

Damage to either the mechanical or the neural (nerve) components of the ear will result in either partial or complete hearing loss. Deafness can be used to describe any degree of hearing loss but it is most commonly used where there is a total inability to hear.

The ageing process is probably the most common cause of hearing loss but there are many other causes including:

• Prematurity
• Genetic defects
• Rubella or cytomegalovirus in pregnancy
• Meningitis
• High noise levels
• Exposure to certain metals and solvents
• Certain drugs (eg Gentamicin)
• Chronic middle ear infection
• Head injury

Hearing loss in childhood is particularly serious as it can affect a child's ability to speak and to understand spoken language especially if it occurs before the age of 2 years.  The 2 principle hearing tests are audiogram or the more advanced Brain Stem Evoked Response (BSER) Both of these produce objective results and are relatively straightforward to interpret.

Legal Issues

• Medical negligence cases to do with the insertion or non-insertion of grommets to treat otitis media (infection in the middle ear), usually in children, have a poor chance of success as there is no firm evidence that grommets make much difference to the outcome.
• Negligence cases arising from mastoid surgery are fairly common often related to delay in diagnosis, facial palsy and hearing loss.
• Noise induced (usually work related) hearing loss is a common cause of  personal injury litigation.
• Medical negligence cases sometimes arise from failure to adequately monitor gentamicin levels or from prolonged use of antibiotics in a perforated ear.
• Generally, a delay in investigating and/or treating hearing loss can lead to successful medical negligence claims.

For an assessment of your potential claim, please complete our online enquiry form and one of our specialists will contact you shortly or please contact us on 0800 054 6512.