Seven-figure settlement after missed Kawasaki disease diagnosis
Our medical negligence team helped the family of a child, AR*, who developed Kawasaki disease, claim a seven-figure compensation. The disease went undiagnosed, resulting in a brain injury and her needing a heart transplant.
*Name changed to protect identity.
What happened to AR?
Four months after AR was born, she developed Kawasaki disease. This is a rare, acute illness in children under five that causes blood vessels throughout the body to inflame. Symptoms can include:
- Red eyes
- Strawberry tongue
- Rash
- Swollen hands/feet
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Extreme irritability.
If the disease goes undiagnosed, it can cause heart damage in the child.
AR’s parents took her to the hospital and her GP on several occasions because of her symptoms. On multiple occasions, medical professionals missed the signs of Kawasaki disease.
AR had a cardiac arrest at home, which resulted in brain damage. A couple of months after this, AR had to have a heart transplant.
How has this impacted AR’s life?
Now a teenager, AR has emotional and behavioural difficulties because of her brain injury. She also has issues with keeping focus, her memory, and processing information.
AR continues to have medical appointments to monitor her health, particularly her heart health.
There are still some unknowns about her future health. AR will continue attending medical appointments and have ongoing care to make sure her health is ok.
How did Irwin Mitchell help AR and her family?
AR’s parents came to our medical negligence team to make a claim for compensation for the misdiagnosis of Kawasaki disease.
Kate Major, a Senior Associate Solicitor, worked with the family by first investigating the child’s medical records.
Kate also instructed independent medical experts to review the care received by AR. The experts used included a:
- Paediatric Cardiologist
- Neonatologist
- Paediatric Neurologist
- Clinical Neuropsychologist.
Each expert agreed that two parties missed the chance to diagnose AR with Kawasaki disease. One was an NHS Trust and the other a GP, who failed to identify the disease and escalate her care.
A Letter of Claim was sent to the NHS Trust at first, outlining that doctors at the Trust missed several signs of Kawasaki disease. This led to AR having a cardiac arrest, resulting in brain damage and a heart transplant.
The Trust admitted they missed the signs, and the disease should have been diagnosed. They didn’t state whether the diagnosis would have been enough to avoid a cardiac arrest.
After beginning Court proceedings against the Trust and GP, the Trust made a full admission of liability.
Compensation that fairly reflects AR's condition
Before starting compensation discussions, AR’s claim was paused because she was only five years old at the time. By waiting, we could assess her full condition more accurately.
AR was diagnosed with several conditions that were caused by her cardiac arrest and subsequent brain injury.
To make sure her claim was valued correctly, we instructed more experts to assess AR’s future care needs. These experts included medical experts, as well as education psychologists and occupational therapists.
We settled AR’s claim for a substantial seven-figure amount. The compensation was made up of both pounds and euros, because the family relocated to Europe during the claim.
The settlement figure was made up of both a lump sum and periodical payments to be paid to AR each year.
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