The High Court has approved a settlement of compensation for a fatal delayed diagnosis which led to the wrongful death of a child.
Six-month-old Kaiden Costello was admitted to Temple Street Children´s Hospital in April 2009 when his concerned mother – Kate – had noticed her son was not eating his food. Kaiden was diagnosed with a failure to thrive, but two months later was re-admitted and underwent an MRI scan which revealed that his condition was due to a brain tumour. Kaiden underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumour, but died three days later.
Kaiden´s mother made a compensation claim for a fatal delayed diagnosis against the hospital and HSE; alleging that, had an MRI scan been conducted when Kaiden was first admitted to the hospital and the tumour diagnosed sooner, her son could have received chemotherapy treatment or undergone surgery earlier to remove the tumour and extend his life.
In the High Court, Mr Justice Kevin Cross heard that responsibility for the failure to diagnose Kaiden when he was first admitted to hospital had been admitted by Temple Street Children´s Hospital and a settlement of compensation for a fatal delayed diagnosis had been agreed upon in the amount of €180,000.
As part of the settlement agreement, an apology was read out by Mona Baker – CEO of Temple Street Children´s Hospital – who said she understood that “no apology or compensation arising from Kaiden´s death could negate the continuing heartache that the family must feel every day”.
Judge Cross thereafter approved the settlement of compensation for a fatal delayed diagnosis, which comprised of €145,000 for Kate Costello´s nervous shock as a result of her son´s death and €35,000 relating to the wrongful death due to a delayed diagnosis.