€5.5m for wrong diagnosis
But parents had to battle for therapy
THE parents of an eightyear-old boy who suffered devastating injuries after his chicken pox was wrongly diagnosed as mumps told how therapy which they had to battle the HSE for has made a huge difference in his life.
Just before his second birthday, Eoghan Keating suffered multi-organ failure and brain damage from an infection that developed out of the chicken pox. He was not initially expected by doctors to survive.
He could have made a full recovery had the appropriate antibiotics been given at the right time, the High Court heard.
His father Larry Keating yesterday told High Court president Peter Kelly that Eoghan was now reaping the benefits of the therapies which the first instalment of compensation had paid for.
Eoghan was awarded a further payment of €3million in damages yesterday following an interim settlement of €2.5million, which he received in October 2016.
Mr Keating said there had been a battle with the HSE during mediation in recent weeks for the therapies to continue to be paid for, which he and his wife Martina had now won.
Mr Keating, from Dunhill, Co. Waterford, said: ‘If someone were to say to us, the therapies aren’t needed, it is like saying that Eoghan is not really there – and he’s very much there.’
He said the multi-disciplinary team of physio, speech and language therapist and occupational therapist had helped Eoghan to open his eyes to stimulus, and that he was learning to choose between objects, using his eyes, facial gestures and hands. ‘If we can get to yes or no, it could really open a whole new world for him. We could really ascertain what he wants,’ Mr Keating said.
He added that he believed the health service should employ consultants for special needs children such as Eoghan, who presented with complex, long term needs that were not otherwise catered for by the HSE.
The family’s counsel, Michael Counihan SC, said he was recommending that the court approve a settlement of just over €3million, to cover the costs of Eoghan’s care for the next four years.
Judge Kelly said he would approve the sum. He noted medical reports which stated that a ‘bizarre and gross mistake’ had been made in misdiagnosing Eoghan, and that this had had very serious consequences for the young boy and his family.
He said Mr Keating, a former shop manager, and his wife Martina, a college lecturer, had made huge sacrifices to care for their son, including moving to parttime work to have maximum input into his wellbeing. He said he was sure that Eoghan, if he could speak, would voice his appreciation of this, and added that the court would also praise their extraordinary care.
When the case first came before the court in 2016, Eoghan’s mother, Martina, told the High Court that her son was now profoundly disabled. She said she missed the sound of his little laugh, and that she grieved every day for the life he had lost.
The court heard Eoghan had been a healthy, ‘cheerful, chirpy little boy’ until just before his second birthday.
On August 20, 2012, his parents noticed that he was unwell. He had marks on the back of his head which spread into a chicken pox rash, and high temperature.
By August 24, a lump had developed on his neck, and Mr and Mrs Keating drove him to the emergency department of University Hospital Waterford, where he was examined and his symptoms were noted.
Their counsel on that occasion, Liam Reidy SC, said: ‘Unfortunately, a profound misdiagnosis took place. He was diagnosed with mumps. In fact, he had an infection from chicken pox.
‘If he had been admitted to hospital for intravenous antibiotics, he would have made a full recovery. Unfortunately, he was discharged and taken home.’
‘Could have made full recovery’