Blind teenager awarded €3.2m for surgery delay after birth

A blind teenage boy has secured €3.2m in settlement of his legal action over alleged delay in carrying out surgery to treat a potentially blinding eye disorder diagnosed weeks after his premature birth.

Noel McCarthy (13) is now totally and permanently blind .

While he had some navigation vision following surgery, he developed glaucoma in 2007 and has been permanently blind since.

He is “a smart, bright boy” who follows sport by listening to the commentary and has learned braille, it was stated.

Suing through his mother Abina, Noel, Griffith Aveune, Mallow, Co Cork had brought proceedings against Gerald O'Connor, a consultant opthalmologist practising at Cork University Hospital and the HSE .

Liability was admitted and the case was before the High Court for assessment of damages only.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told Noel was born premature at 25 weeks and five days on August 4th, 2001, at the Erinville Hospital, Cork, and had a number of problems.

It was claimed premature babies are prone to an eye disorder — retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) — and Noel should have been immediately reviewed by an appropriately qualified opthalmic surgeon and treated.

It was claimed Noel was screened for ROP but not on a timely basis.

On September 27th, 2001 Noel was diagnosed as having Stage 2 ROP in both eyes, it was claimed.

On October 5th Mr O’Connor conducted a further review and ordered that the baby be observed, it was alleged.

On October 11th, it was claimed a further opthalmology review was performed and it was noted the eye disorder was still at the same stage in the baby's left eye but had progressed to stage three Threshold disease in his right eye.

It was claimed the child was reviewed by Mr O’Connor on October 12th and that, the following day, Mr O’Connor confirmed the progression of the condition in the right eye and recorded that surgery should be performed.

It was claimed surgery was not performed until October 17th and the delay from October 11th to October 17th in the performance of surgery fell below the acceptable standard of care.

Dermot Gleeson SC, for the boy, said, as soon as the disease was detected, the baby should have been operated on, ideally>that day or within three days.

However, six days were allowed to pass before the operation, he said.

It was claimed the defendants ought to have known, as soon as Threshold disease is diagnosed, treatment in the form of surgical intervention was required as a matter of urgency and that timing was critical.

It was also alleged there was a failure to properly screen>Noel and to treat him promptly when a Threshold disease was manifest. The claims were denied.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Cross said it gave Noel very good certainty for the future and he wished the family well.

Statement from family

In a statement issued afterwards, the child’s parents said, children who are born prematurely can go blind unless the condition Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is monitored and treated.

“There are, and were in 2001, guidelines and protocols in place, which direct the medical staff as to how to deal with this condition. The guidelines state when screening for the condition is to start, how often screening is to take place, and when the condition of ROP, if detected, is to be treated.

“Unfortunately for Noel, the medical team at CUH failed in their obligations to Noel. Treatment was delayed and, as a consequence, Noel lost his sight and is now totally blind.”

The parents also said they were not told for some 13 years their son’s blindness was caused by medical failures. They had initiated the legal action in October 2011 and the defendants had admitted liability just yesterday evening.“This was not accompanied by any apology.”

“Noel was badly let down in first few weeks of his life,” they said. “Thank God for the legal system that got Noel justice.”