Admitted 2016
Medical Negligence
Telephone: 091 865 000
Johan, a native of Galway, is a solicitor in the firm’s Medical Negligence Department.
Johan has personal experience of the catastrophic consequences of medical negligence. His birth was grossly mismanaged, and he is fortunate to have avoided severe brain damage and cerebral palsy. Johan had to be resuscitated and the trauma of the delivery has left him with a near-total paralysis of his right arm, a condition known as brachial plexus palsy or Erb’s palsy.
The doctors and hospitals were unwilling to provide an explanation as to how the birth had gone so wrong, and how Johan came to be injured. Johan’s parents, like many, went to a solicitor for answers and discovered that it was wholly preventable. They fought tirelessly to hold those responsible for Johan’s injuries to account. The case against the Western Health Board and the obstetrician settled in December 1996.
Johan is proudly in a position to help other victims of medical negligence to understand what has happened to cause their injuries and to get justice. Johan has acted in many interesting and complex cases of cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, maternal injury, delay in cancer diagnosis, fatal injuries, surgical error, and orthopaedic negligence. He has represented families at inquests, and has brought cases to a successful conclusion, by High Court trials and settlement negotiations.
In May 2018, Johan was tasked with running the newly opened Galway office, which has been a resounding success.
Johan was educated at St. Annin’s N.S., Kilannin, Galway, St. Joseph’s Patrician College (“The Bish”), Galway and N.U.I. Galway from which he graduated with an honours degree in both Corporate Law (B Corp. Law) and LLB (Bachelor of Laws).
Johan was made Associate Solicitor at Callan Tansey in September 2020.
CASES OF NOTE
‘I am lucky that I’m not profoundly disabled following traumatic birth’
Verbruggen settled a case for a six-year-old girl who suffers with partial paralysis of her left arm & postural difficulty – a condition known as Erb’s palsy – following a difficult birth.
JOHAN VERBRUGGEN ON RAY D’ARCY SHOW: BEING INJURED DURING BIRTH
Listen to Johan Verbruggen on the Ray D’Arcy Show talking about his own experience being injured during birth.
€400,000 for girl, 6, over shoulder injury allegedly suffered at birth
It meant a great deal to our Johan Verbruggen on a personal level, to achieve a fantastic result for little Alice Hayes who like him, suffers from Erb’s palsy, as a result of a traumatic birth.
Man Died From Sepsis After Hip Replacement Surgery, Inquest Finds
A 76-year-old man died from sepsis due to pneumonia in the lungs, which developed after he had hip replacement surgery ..
Family settle case over death of 88-year-old man in hospital
The family of an 88-year-old man who died 13 days after he was admitted to Sligo General Hospital has settled a High Court action over his death on confidential terms.
The medical negligence victim turned negligence solicitor
Johan Verbruggen, who has Erb’s palsy, says his parents ‘were told it was their own fault’
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