A paediatrician has been found guilty of poor professional performance after he failed to order a head cooling treatment for a baby who was subsequently left with brain damage.
Dr Mohammad Ilyas Khan was working as a locum consultant paediatrician at South Tipperary General Hospital in June 2012 when the incident occurred.
It was alleged at a Medical Council fitness to practise inquiry that Dr Khan failed to order a cooling treatment for a baby that was deprived oxygen at birth.
Head-cooling treatment is used to lessen the chance of brain damage resulting from oxygen deprivation during birth. Current protocols require cooling to begin within a maximum of six hours after birth and suggest that cooling as early as possible.
It was alleged Dr Khan told the parents the baby was fine in circumstances where he knew, or ought to have known, that was not the case. It was also alleged he failed to arrange for the transfer of the baby to another hospital for cooling treatment.
The inquiry heard the baby, referred to a Patient BT, is two years old and has cerebral palsy. He attends the Central Remedial Clinic and receives occupational, physical and speech therapy.
His mother, Noelle Tobin, previously told the inquiry she has not returned to work as a teacher since he was born due to the amount of care he needs. She and her husband also have twin four-year-old girls.
Ms Tobin suffered a ruptured uterus, which deprived the baby of oxygen at birth. The baby was brought to the special care unit of South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel after he was born and given anti-seizure medication.
Ms Tobin requested the cooling treatment but Dr Khan did not think the baby was a suitable candidate, the inquiry heard.
The baby was transferred to Holles Street maternity hospital, Dublin, where doctors told the parents he might die or be left with a disability.
Expert witness Dr Kevin Connolly, a former consultant paediatrician said there is "compelling evidence" of the benefits of cooling treatment on a baby if done within six hours of the child being born, which "significantly mitigates" the adverse effects of a lack of oxygen on the brain. He said if cooling treatment is done within six hours, the risk of the child dying or developing a severe disability is reduced by 25 per cent.
Dr Connolly said Ms Tobin’s baby fitted the criteria for cooling under the national neo-natal transport guidelines and said the guidelines are “gold standard”.
In a statement to the media after the hearing, Ms Tobin said the family welcomed the decision.
“We are pleased that six out of seven of the allegations against Dr Khan regarding the care of our son has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. The outcome will not change our lives but hopefully it will have a positive impact for other families,” she wrote.
“The inquiry process was a very positive experience for us and no matter what the outcome we always felt listened to and heard. A special thank you to our families and friends and all the people were who were involved in the inquiry.”
The fitness to practice committee’s decision will now be forwarded to the board of the Medical Council which will decide what sanction to impose on Dr Khan.