Lawyers cross swords over woman’s death at St Philip’s Hospital

Lawyer Edward Debono, appearing for a doctor, a midwife and nurse who were duty at St. Philip's Hospital on the night of October 4, 1999, hit out at the heirs of the late Lilian Briffa, who fell to her death from her third floor window at the hospital.

Debono, who almost got himself suspended from Judge Lorraine Schembri Orland's court room, interrupted lawyer Tonio Azzopardi during his submissions on behalf of Briffa's heirs.

Major Alfred Briffa, and other family members, are suing Good Shepherd Limited - operators of St. Philip's Hospital - for damages, alleging responsibility for the administration of the drug Stilnox, which disorientated the late Lilian Briffa, leading her to take a stool, lean out of the window and fall to her death.

But while Azzopardi was making his case, Debono interrupted to insist that it was Briffa who asked to be given the medication for her to sleep. Stilnox, he said was a commonly administered drug, which didn't need any specific prescription at that time.

Later, Debono submitted that contrary to the allegation that the hospital had badly designed windows, it transpired that a reported filed by court expert Richard Aquilina established that the window sill - although slanting downwards and at an angle - was two feet deep.

The window he said was opened on the specific request of Lilian Briffa who wanted to smoke, and her death was caused by the fact that she leaned forward in order not to trigger the fire alarm.

Another lawyer, Arthur Galea Salomone, appearing for Good Shepherd Ltd, said that it was policy at the hospital that no windows are opened for climate control, but they were opened if a patient requested them opened.

This policy he said was considered to be 'sensible' by other court experts, who assisted in the Magisterial inquiry which investigated the circumstances.

Then Magistrate Jacquline Padovani Grima who led the inquiry into Briffa's death had ruled that there was no criminal responsibility against Dr. Mireille Camilleri, midwife Carmen Cannataci and nurse Elisabeth Sarsero.

While Dr. Camilleri was the person to administer the medication, Cannataci and Sarsero were the people who ran to assist Briffa after the fall. "How could they ever be subject for damages?" the lawyers asked.

But while Tonio Azzopardi argued that the hospital held no proper medical records and that the woman was partially blind. He insisted that the stool inside the room, which  Briffa used to reach out of the window, should have been bolted to the ground.

This led lawyers Debono and Galea Salomone to react and explain that unless the hospital is a sanatorium, no stools are ever bolted to the ground.

The case continues.