Misdiagnosis: £75k clinical negligence compensation settlement over teenager’s death
A teenager’s family has been awarded £75k in compensation after he was misdiagnosed with viral meningitis and later died of a brain haemorrhage.
Weston General and Frenchay hospitals apologised to the family of Lee Nicholls, 16, from Nailsea near Bristol, who died in 2005.
Lee might have survived if doctors had not made mistakes in diagnosis and treatment, Coroner Brian Whitehouse said. Although he said neglect had contributed, he ruled that Lee died of natural causes.
A lumbar puncture was performed on the teenager at Weston General Hospital in North Somerset, a court heard, but a test that may have revealed bleeding on the brain did not take place. Lee collapsed a few weeks after he was discharged and was put on a life support machine at Frenchay Hospital, near Bristol. He died in March 2005.
The High Court in Bristol approved a £75k settlement in the clinical negligence claim Lee’s mother Kate Nicholls brought against the hospitals. She described how she was devastated when the letters of apology arrived.
“You read it in black and white that people actually acknowledge the fact that their mistakes killed your child, it’s horrible,” she said. “I don’t think you can put a price on a life. No amount of money is going to bring Lee back.”
Clinical negligence lawyer Susan Brown from Reading based law firm Boyes Turner said: "We have acted for a number of families who have lost a child as a result of medical negligence and misdiagnosis. Whilst no amount of compensation will bring their child back, families often feel that bringing a claim will ensure that the NHS accept responsibility for the death and many hope that as a result lessons will be learnt."
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