A jury at the inquest into the death of a nine-year-old girl who died three weeks after she had her appendix removed at Cavan General Hospital, has found she died of natural causes.
The jury of four men and two women took only minutes to return the verdict yesterday after the conclusion of evidence at the inquest into the death of Frances Sheridan from Cootehill, who died on February 1st last year.
The child's family were "distraught" at the verdict, their solicitor Patricia O'Reilly said. They felt it was "unsupported by the evidence", she said, adding that the family felt their daughter's death was preventable. They would not comment on whether they planned to sue the hospital.
Frances Sheridan had her appendix out at Cavan hospital on January 7th last year. The appendix had burst and she was in hospital for five days. On January 30th, she had abdominal pain, and her GP, Dr Michael O'Hea, on seeing her said she and her mother Rosemary should go to Cavan hospital straight away. He gave them a letter for the surgical on-call team suggesting a diagnosis of volvulus or twisted bowel. They took an overnight bag with them.
In her statement to the inquest, Rosemary Sheridan said while Frances was waiting to be seen in casualty her pain was so bad she couldn't get comfortable on her chair. She was seen by Dr Liezl Du Plessis, a junior doctor. Mrs Sheridan said this doctor sent Frances for X-rays, which were normal and Frances was sent home.
Frances vomited outside the hospital before going home. That night, she had recurrent pain and vomited. The next day she was sick again. She had some hot milk before lying down on the couch for the night. She fell asleep but awoke around 5.50am looking for a drink. When she drank it, she vomited.
Her vomit was black and her mother held her and Frances said she couldn't see. "All of a sudden, she went limp in my arms," Mrs Sheridan said.
Frances was rushed to Cavan hospital but pronounced dead on arrival.
Dr Du Plessis told the inquest the child's medical records from when she had her appendix out were not available to her. The child's bowel sounds were normal. But, given the GP's letter, she ordered X-rays to rule out a bowel obstruction.
Asked by coroner Dr Mary Flanagan why the GP's letter did not go to the surgical team on call, she said junior doctors were instructed to see patients first and only call the surgical team if they then felt this would warrant it.
She said she didn't find anything wrong with Frances, and suggested to her mother it might be an upset stomach. She said she got a second opinion from another junior doctor, Dr Martin Brand, as he had about a year's more surgical experience. He also found the X-ray normal.
Dr Du Plessis said it was impossible to say if she had had the child's records whether she would have made sure Frances was seen by the surgical team. "It might have changed my mind, but I don't know," she said. A consultant radiologist who examined the X-rays also found them normal, said the coroner.
State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy said a postmortem showed the girl died from complications of recent surgery.
She explained that, during the healing process after the operation, scar tissue or adhesions developed, which was normal. However, the adhesions formed a loop through which segments of the bowel could slide in and out.As a result of the blocked bowel, she said, the child would have vomited. She concluded the child died after inhaling her own vomit.
Summing up, the coroner told the jury she did not think a natural causes verdict was appropriate. The jury returned with a verdict of natural causes, saying it was unanimous and based on the evidence of Prof Cassidy.