The High Court has approved a settlement of €690,000 for a young girl over alleged negligence in her care and treatment both before and in the months after her birth.
The settlement, against the Health Service Executive and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin, was made without admission of liability. The defendants had denied the claims and the settlement was achieved after a hearing lasting a number of weeks.
The case was brought on behalf of Aisling Lenehan, now seven, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome and heart problems following her birth in Sligo General Hospital in 2004.
Through her mother, Patricia Lynch, Aisling sued the HSE and the children’s hospital alleging negligence in her care and treatment, including failing to diagnose and treat Aisling in a timely fashion.
It was claimed there was a five-month delay before Aisling received a cardiology review. There was also a delay in starting Aisling on the appropriate medication, it was submitted.
The alleged delays, it was claimed, caused the child to develop severe pulmonary hypertension, a condition that affects the heart and is irreversible.