Lawyers Demand More Answers As Mother Wins Battle For Justice Over Epilepsy Misdiagnosis
13/10/2011
The mother of a child who was erroneously misdiagnosed with epilepsy and prescribed harmful drugs for over four years has described her relief after law firm Irwin Mitchell helped win her fight for justice – combating initial claims by the hospital that there was no cause for concern over her son’s treatment.
Hasnat Meajee, now 11 years old, was just one of at least 600 children who were misdiagnosed with epilepsy by Dr Andrew Holton at Leicester Royal Infirmary over a decade, between 1991 and 2001. Some of the children concerned are now suffering long term health problems as a result.
Medical law experts at Irwin Mitchell, which has a consulting team based in Leicester, represent a number of clients in similar circumstances and are calling for answers, as they believe it is likely there are even more children whose cases have not had sufficient investigation.
Hasnat’s case was dismissed when first raised, when the hospital’s internal investigation concluded that there was no need for concern regarding his treatment.
However, Hasnat’s mother, Moriom Meajee, was dissatisfied with the decision as she did not feel that the hospital’s investigation had been carried out thoroughly enough to answer the doubts she still had about Hasnat’s diagnosis and subsequent treatment. She therefore instructed Irwin Mitchell to investigate her son’s case, which was then considered by an independent panel of experts. The panel concluded that Dr Holton’s treatment of Hasnat was negligent and that due to the diagnosis he unnecessarily took anti-convulsant medication for more than 4 years.
Dr Holton was suspended by the General Medical Council in 2001 after it had been revealed that he had misdiagnosed 618 paediatric cases and given at least 500 children the wrong medication.
Mrs Meajee said: “As a result of Dr Holton’s misdiagnosis, Hasnat was given a combination of five unnecessary drugs over a period of approximately four years, and was often taking three or four different drugs at once.
“This medication caused Hasnat to be permanently sleepy. He was not interested in his surroundings, was unsteady on his feet and his development slowed down.
“I am extremely relieved that the hospital has now acknowledged the errors made by Dr Holton and I am very grateful to Irwin Mitchell. It has been a struggle to get to this point, and I feel that Hasnat has been let down by the hospital on two occasions; firstly in relation to his treatment, and secondly in relation to the hospital’s internal investigations surrounding Dr Holton’s actions. I still find it difficult to trust medical professionals because of what has happened to Hasnat. I hope that we can now put this ordeal behind us and begin to move on with our lives.”
Anna Stacey, a medical law expert at Irwin Mitchell, said: “It was clear that the diagnosis of epilepsy was not sound. Hasnat was not suffering from epilepsy.
“Had Mrs Meajee accepted what the hospital initially told her she would not have found out what really happened in Hasnat’s case, and we will continue to fight for the other families who feel they have been let down by the hospital’s investigation.
“It is a great concern that there may be other parents who could have been dismissed by the investigation and wrongly told that there is no concern about their child’s treatment. It is only right that they are given answers as to how the errors were allowed to happen.
“Hasnat was given the wrong drugs for more than four years, which is unacceptable. How many others are out there who have also suffered but not yet had a full investigation into their treatment?
“It is extremely worrying that the mistakes in this case were not recognised until they were questioned by us.”
Irwin Mitchell successfully negotiated an undisclosed out of court settlement for Hasnat after the hospital admitted the problems with Dr Holton’s treatment.
For media enquiries please contact the Irwin Mitchell Press Office on 0114 274 4666.
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