Nearly four months after the death of 12-year-old Irish boy Rory Staunton, and a week after the New York Times published an in-depth investigation into the misdiagnosis that led to his death, the New York hospital where he died has announced changes in procedures intended to prevent a recurrence of such medical errors.
From now on physicians and nurses at the New York University Langone Medical Center will “immediately be notified of certain lab results suggestive of serious infection, such as elevated band counts”, a statement from the hospital said yesterday.
As a direct response to the death of Rory on April 1st, a new checklist had been established, said a spokeswoman. Patients would not be discharged before “a final review of all critical lab results and patient vital signs”.
“We have won a small measure of justice in Rory’s name,” said publisher Niall O’Dowd, an uncle of the dead boy. Rory was the son of immigrants Ciarán and Orlaith Staunton. He died from septic shock four days after cutting his elbow while playing basketball.