Some 65 cases involving women who say their wombs were unnecessarily removed by a Drogheda-based consultant obstetrician are due to come before the High Court later this year.
This follows a Supreme Court ruling this week in which Dr Michael Neary and Our Lady Of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda lost their appeal in a case where a mother claimed her womb was needlessly removed after giving birth to her first child.
The court also rejected a claim made on behalf of Dr Neary that the woman's actions had been outside the legal limit for bringing her action, which paves the way for dozens more cases against the consultant obstetrician.
Mr Brendan Toale of McGeehin, Toale, Nagle, which is handling up to 30 of the cases, said the ruling was significant but missing documents threatened to hamper some cases.
The patient support group, Patient Focus, which represents almost 100 women who say they underwent damaging gynaecological operations at the hospital, has called for a tribunal of inquiry and compensation.
Ms Sheila O'Connor, a spokeswoman for the group, said a tribunal was the only way to investigate fully the issue due to the absence of documents.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said calls for an inquiry would be examined when a Medical Council fitness-to-practise inquiry was completed.
The Supreme Court decided that the High Court's €273,223 award to Ms Alison Gough should be reduced by €50,000.
The High Court found that Dr Neary was negligent in his treatment of Ms Gough at the time of the birth of her only child in October 1992. It held that had Dr Neary carried out certain procedures on Ms Gough, it would not have been necessary to remove her womb.
