Boy left disabled after doctors ignore mother’s pleas on drug
AN 11-YEAR-OLD boy has been left brain damaged after a leading hospital ignored the advice of his medical scientist mother, she claims.
Gabrielle Ali says her son’s disabilities – which mean he cannot walk or talk – are the result of alleged blunders by Great Ormond Street.
After her son Elijah developed a complication following routine surgery at the hospital, she was told to take him to her local hospital.
There, under direction of Great Ormond Street, A&E doctors gave him a blood thinner called heparin that Ms Ali claims put Elijah into cardiac arrest.
She says she knew the blood thinner would damage her son but her pleas to doctors were ignored. It was 45 minutes before the resuscitation team managed to restart her child’s heart. After being starved of oxygen for so long, Elijah suffered serious brain damage.
Ms Ali, 31, said: “From my scientific knowledge I knew it wasn’t safe to give heparin to my son as his haemoglobin – red blood cell level – was so low. The lowest safe level is around 84. Elijah’s was off the scale at 50. He desperately needed a blood transfusion first.
“I was really anxious that heparin would thin the blood too much and put his vital organs at risk.
“I argued with doctors at Watford General Hospital where I was told to take him by Great Ormond Street. But they said they were acting on the instructions of Great Ormond Street. They threatened legal action if I tried to remove him from the hospital.” As she tried to convince doctors at Watford and, by telephone, Great Ormond Street, her son asked her: “Mum, are they trying to kill me?” she said.
Within seconds of heparin being infused into a vein he went into cardiac arrest.
Elijah was born with congenital heart defects and a cleft palate, and the problems arose after he had undergone a dental operation at Great Ormond Street in March 2014.
Ms Ali is now claiming gross medical negligence against the hospital.
A serious incident report by Watford Hospital said its staff were working under the instructions of Great Ormond Street Hospital.
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust said a number of changes had been made which would help prevent a similar event happening again.
Great Ormond Street Hospital said an investigation into the incident had been launched.
‘They threatened legal action if I tried to remove him from the hospital’