The High Court has approved the settlement of a claim for A&E misdiagnosis compensation after the tragic death of an eight-year-old boy.
Richard de Souza had been taken by his parents to the Accident and Emergency Department of the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise in February 2011, due to their son developing a lump on the left side of his body. The boy was suffering from chicken pox at the time, and a doctor in the A&E Department diagnosed an infection and prescribed a three-day course of antibiotics.
The doctor sent the family home, but later that evening Richard complained of being thirsty and became delirious. The following morning he told his mother that he felt the need to vomit and then passed out on the floor of the family home in Athy, County Kildare. Richard´s mother summoned an ambulance, but Richard was already in a state of cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived and he was declared dead at the Midland Regional Hospital.
After discovering that their son´s cause of death was a streptococcal infection which led to toxic shock syndrome, Ralmon and Flavia de Souza made a claim for A&E misdiagnosis against the Midland Regional Hospital and the Health Service Executive, alleging that Richard should have been admitted to hospital with the symptoms he had been displaying and that his death could have been prevented.
At the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine heard that the HSE had admitted liability for Richard´s death and an apology was read out on behalf of the hospital to the family. The judge then approved the settlement of the de Souza´s claim for A&E misdiagnosis compensation, which had been agreed at €160,000 to account for Richard´s wrongful death and the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder both parents had been diagnosed with following the tragic and avoidable death of their son.