Failure to diagnose a spinal cyst leads to multiple bouts of meningitis
When Mark was born, his parents noticed a small lump on the bottom of his back. This was not investigated by the hospital and Mark was discharged home. His mother noticed that he wouldn’t sleep on his back and he seemed irritable. After 4 months he was seen in hospital and his mother was informed that he had an ingrown hair but no investigations (including x-rays) were carried out. The lump was operated on and he was sent home.
Mark continued to be in pain and went back and forth to the doctors. 5 months after the operation, he was visited at home and diagnosed with meningitis. He was admitted to hospital and treated with antibiotics and Mark was discharged after 14 days. He suffered a further bout of meningitis 1 month later and was referred for an MRI scan on his spine. Before this took place he suffered from a third episode of meningitis.
The scans revealed a mass of cysts at the bottom of Mark’s back. This explained his repeated bouts of meningitis.
Mark has had several operations on his back and now suffers from incontinence as a result of these. It was alleged that, had the appropriate investigations been commenced at birth, the cysts would have been detected and treated early on and Mark would have not suffered from meningitis, or the after affects of the operations. However, the investigations indicate that the incontinence would have occurred in any event and this element of the injury was not something that could be compensated.
£25,000 was awarded to Mark to take into account his pain during the bouts of meningitis and to compensate for the bedside vigil his parents kept during his various hospital admissions.
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