Boy with cerebral palsy suing HSE says his doctor was struck off in UK

A BOY with cerebral palsy who is suing the HSE over the circumstances of his birth has lodged a claim for aggravated damages, claiming his care was entrusted to a doctor who, it has since emerged, was struck off in the UK.

The High Court was told yesterday Tadhg McKenna, of Sruth An Mhuillan, Emyvale, Co Monaghan, is now seeking exemplary or aggravated damages after it emerged Dr Aamir Iqbal Malik was allegedly involved at his birth.

Last month, Dr Malik was suspended by the High Court from the medical register in Ireland pending further order.

That court heard Dr Malik, who qualified as a doctor in Pakistan in 1989, had been struck off the medical register in the UK in 2018 for professional misconduct based on findings of dishonesty relating to years previously in how he conducted his practice as a doctor there.

It is claimed in the case of Tadhg, who has quadriplegia cerebral palsy, that his care at birth in Cavan General Hospital was entrusted to Dr Malik, who allegedly had neither the professional capacity nor the competence to provide such care either at all or without appropriate supervision.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told the new developments in the case have caused stress for the McKennas but they don’t want the case to be delayed. Counsel for the HSE said it is investigating the new aspect to the case.

Liability had previously been conceded in relation to breach of duty but causation had remained at issue. Tadhg, through his mother Emma Louise McKenna, sued the HSE over the circumstances of his birth on August 31, 2017.