DOWNS SYNDROME CASE CONCLUDES TODAY
02/11/2000
I would recommend Alexander Harris because they provide a very good service.
Stephanie, Cheshire
The case of Downs Syndrome boy Kristian Adey concluded at Leeds High Court today with Judgment being deferred for approximately 4 weeks. Outside the court the family said: "We will have to now await the Judge's decision, however it has been a victory for all of the parents not just ourselves to have their views aired in Court."
Lesley Herbertson, Clinical Negligence Solicitor and Partner at Alexander Harris who is representing the family said: "We are pleased that the family have had the opportunity to express their views. In terms of human rights the case provides a timely reminder that everyone has an equal right to life and medical treatment and should not face discrimination due to disability."
Below is the background:-
In the High Court in Leeds this week the case of Downs Syndrome boy Kristian Adey is being heard. It has already attracted much of the nation's media attention particularly as it is thought to be the first case of its kind to go to Trial. The Trial is scheduled for four days from 31 October.
Lesley Herbertson, Partner at Alexander Harris and the Adey's solicitor said: "This is an important case. Not only for Kristian Adey but because it potentially raises the more far-reaching issues of discrimination and Human Rights."
The case involves a 15 year old Bradford boy, Kristian Adey. Kristian has Down's Syndrome.
Soon after his birth, it was noticed that he had a related heart condition which, if not promptly operated upon, would cause lung damage. Kristian did not have this surgery and is now suffering disabling respiratory symptoms and his life expectancy is shorter than it otherwise would have been.
This complex claim is based upon the fact that the treating cardiologists' judgment on whether or not to operate may have been affected, amongst other reasons, by the fact that Kristian had Down's Syndrome. The family's argument is that the doctors exaggerated the surgical mortality rate and that they failed to counsel Mr and Mrs Adey appropriately by telling them that Kristian's condition was 'inoperable' and that they should take him home and enjoy him whilst they could.
Kristian has a complex congenital heart defect of the type frequently present in Down's Syndrome children. The main defect is an atrioventricular septal defect, which is a large hole at the centre of the heart. This type of hole usually results in an excess of blood flow to the lungs, eventually causing pulmonary vascular disease (lung damage) which can make children breathless and unwell.
An operation should have been performed before his first birthday, which would have protected the lungs from developing pulmonary vascular disease. If this was not possible a staged procedure could have been carried out buying the doctors more time to do the bigger operation to repair the cardiac defect.
THE GUARDIAN - Wednesday November 1 2000
Down's baby was denied surgery, mother claims
The mother of a Down's syndrome teenager told the high court yesterday that the boy had been denied a heart operation as a baby because of his limited life expectancy.
In a case with potentially far-reaching implications for Down's children, Maralyn Adey is claiming clinical negligence by doctors and health managers.
Mrs Adey, of Idle in Bradford, west Yorkshire, told the court in Leeds that she had been "knocked sideways" when a consultant allegedly told her that her baby Kristian's hole in the heart condition was inoperable and that she should take him home to enjoy him for his expected lifespan of 10 years.
Kristian is now 15 but suffers from shortage of breath, needs oxygen at home and frequently has to use a wheelchair. He is not expected to live beyond his 20s, but Mrs Adey and her husband Alvin will argue in the four-day hearing that the operation could have extended both the length and quality of his life.
She told the court she had taken Kristian soon after his birth to the heart specialist centre at Killingbeck hospital, Leeds - now closed - but was told by David Dickinson that the child's heart defect was so severe that it was inoperable. She said there had been no proper discussion and she had not been told that there was a 25% to 33% chance the baby would pull through after an operation.
"I wanted to give my son the best I could. I feel I would have been giving him a better chance of longevity of life," she told the court. "Instead we are having to watch him slowly deteriorate. He can't do the things his friends do. His mind wants to but his body can't."
Mrs Adey said she had been offered an operation by a consultant in Liverpool when Kristian was four, but by then complications in the child's heart and lungs made surgery more risky.
Toby Stewart, for Leeds health authority, denied that Dr Dickinson had described Kristian's condition as inoperable and said the consultant had estimated the boy's life expectancy as 20 years, not 10.
The authority denies negligence and says there is no discrimination against Down's syndrome children in decisions about such operations.
The case continues.
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