Private hospital launches High Court action against widow of former patient

A private medical hospital has brought High Court proceedings against the widow of a former patient it claims is publishing false and misleading information about it on social media. 

The claim has been made in proceedings taken by the Beacon Hospital Sandyford Limited against Veronica Delaney, who it alleges is engaged in a prolonged campaign of spreading falsehoods of the most serious kind against the hospital and its medical professionals.  

It is alleged that the defendant's husband John was a former patient of the hospital.

It claims that he died of a form of blood cancer known as IgG kappa myeloma on April 1, 2022.

The hospital, represented by Owen Keany Bl claims that Mrs Delaney with an address at Weston Crescent, Lucan, Co Dublin raised concerns about the care the hospital provided to her husband between March 2022 until the time of his death.

The hospital claims that it engaged extensively with her, with sympathy and sensitivity, following the immense loss she suffered.

However it claims that over the last 12 months she has engaged in an unwarranted campaign against the Beacon, and has attacked it with a litany of false allegations.   

It claims that since September 2022 she has posted dozens of untrue statements on social media platforms Twitter/X and LinkedIn using different handles and names. 

The hospital, through its solicitors Sherwin O'Riordan LLP, corresponded with Mrs Delaney with a view to having the statements removed.

The hospital claims that this has not been possible, and her statements, it is alleged, have become more extreme and damaging. 

The court also heard that Mrs Delaney has brought High Court proceedings against the hospital and Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane where she sought reliefs including that steps be taken to amend the cause of her late husband's death.

It is claimed that those proceedings were dismissed by the High Court. 

As a result of the various statements online the hospital seeks orders against Mrs Delaney, including injunctions restraining her from publishing statements of a false and misleading nature concerning the hospital.

It also seeks an order restraining the defendant from publishing any material which asserts or implies that the plaintiff is guilty of murder, engaged in the process of euthanasia, is guilty of medical manslaughter, has culled patients,  are serial killers, has engaged in criminal conduct, has falsified documentation and is covering up and concealing the cause of the defendant's husband's death.

The matter came before Ms Justice Siobhan Stack on Wednesday. 

The judge on an ex-parte basis granted the hospital permission to serve short notice of the injunction application on the defendant.

The matter will return before the court later this month.