HSE apologises to family of five-day-old girl who died in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH)

Anthony Landphier and Linda Kelly speak to the media outside the High Court following the successful outcome of their case against the HSE and CUMH.

READ: Irish Independent Case Report

​In June Cian O’Carroll Solicitors successfully concluded a fatal injuries case relating to the birth of a premature baby at Cork University Maternity Hospital. A venous catheter was inserted through the newborn’s umbilicus to provide a care pathway as is common practice in the care of premature infants. On the third day of life, the infant’s condition suddenly deteriorated and she did not respond to efforts to resuscitate.  To the continuing heartbreak of her loving parents, she died. 
 
On examination following her death it was discovered that the tip of the catheter had been placed in error into an area of her liver and this led to organ failure and death. 
 
Initially the doctors involved in her care had denied liability, including at the inquest held before the Coroner for Cork. One of the major drawbacks of an Inquest is that the family are not allowed to call independent medical evidence and a Coroner almost never do so and accordingly the only technical medical evidence that the Inquest will hear will be from the very doctors and clinical staff who treated the deceased patient. In many cases this makes a meaningful interrogation of the truth quite difficult. The Inquest in this case was no different. 
 
Ultimately the distraught parents were left with no alternative to taking court proceedings to access the truth and establish that the placement of the catheter had been an unacceptable error and an occasion of negligence that ought not have happened.