Hospital apologises for doctor's epilepsy errors
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Your support makes all the difference.A hospital trust apologised to the parents of 133 children yesterday after it admitted that they had been wrongly diagnosed and treated with powerful drugs for epilepsy by a consultant paediatrician.
An investigation is being carried out into the case notes of 8,500 patients cared for by Dr Andrew Holton at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, which said it fully accepted the report on the cases reviewed so far.
The review, by the Royal College of Paediatricians, is assessing whether Dr Holton wrongly diagnosed children as having epilepsy, and gave them powerful drugs that they did not need. Parents said the unnecessary medication had made the children become like "zombies", and accused the NHS of failing hundreds of families.
Dr Holton was also said to have over-subscribed drugs to patients who genuinely suffered from epilepsy. His mistakes were blamed on lack of training and support, and poor access to equipment.
Dr Holton was suspended on full pay in June. A copy of the report has been sent to the General Medical Council, which will determine whether he can continue to practice.
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