Baby boy died from chicken pox after doctors sent him home THREE times - and all he needed was simple antibiotics

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A mother broke down in tears as she told how her baby boy was sent home three times by doctors who missed a deadly infection.
Lewis Mullins, who had just turned one, was examined by a GP at an NHS walk-in centre and then twice by hospital doctors within the space of three days.

His worried mother Jodie Conlay, 28, repeatedly told doctors their son was sick but they were only given an anti-viral drug and painkillers to treat Lewis, who had just learned to walk.

Grieving: Lewis' mother Jodie Conlay holds her son in a hospital ward. She told an inquest that she 'wished doctors had listened to her'

He he collapsed at home in Rotherham, south Yorkshire, on April 2 last and died from pneumonia which was likely to have been caused by the chicken pox.

An expert in child protection who reviewed the case said that if Lewis had been given antibiotics on the three occasions he was sent home he would probably have survived.

She also said the doctors concentrated too much on the chicken pox without looking for a secondary bacterial infection.

Anguished Miss Conlay, 28, broke down in tears and told an inquest in Rotherham on Wednesday: 'I just wished they had listened to me.'


Lewis, described as a 'chunky monkey' by his mother was a normal, healthy boy but fell ill with chicken pox after his four-year-old sister Lacey caught it and came out in blisters on his face.
He had a temperature, breathing problems and shaking episodes. 'His face was swollen, it was like he had been in the ring with Mike Tyson,' his mother said.

Miss Conlay took Lewis to Rotherham’s NHS walk-in centre on Wednesday, March 30 last year and was told he had infected chicken pox.

Miss Conlay was sent home with an anti-viral drug to treat the chicken pox but the next day Lewis developed a different rash on his face and mouth and he began making grunting noises as if he was in pain.



Tragic: One-year-old Lewis Mullins plays in a baby walker. He died after contracting chicken pox and doctors missed a bacterial infection three times

Miss Conlay rang NHS Direct and after the operator heard her son’s breathing over the phone an ambulance was called. Despite the new rash spreading the anti-viral drug was stopped and Lewis was discharged with Ibuprofen and Paracetamol but was brought back again on Friday, April 1 after his parents thought he worsened.

The tot was discharged for a third time with painkillers but was found lifeless by his grandmother Elaine Mullins at his home in Maltby, near Rotherham on the morning of Saturday, April 2.
Former lifeguard Mrs Mullins and three paramedics tried resuscitation for half an hour but could not revive Lewis. He was pronounced dead at hospital.

Mrs Mullins told the inquest: 'When we got to the hospital the sister we saw on Friday was there. She said ''Oh my God, it’s Lewis.'' I was really mad as they shouldn’t have let him home.'
Lewis’ father Andrew Mullins, 32, said his son was discharged because the doctors thought they could do nothing more than the parents were already doing for Lewis at home.

The inquest heard that a form filled in by a triage nurse at the walk-in centre detailing Lewis’ pain, rash, high temperature, shaking episodes and breathing problems was not passed to GP Dr Ali Kouchouk who merely thought he was treating him for chicken pox.

He admitted it was 'fairly significant information' and had he known it may have been more appropriate to send Lewis to hospital.

When Lewis was admitted to Rotherham District Hospital’s accident and emergency department on Thursday, March 31 nurses noted that Lewis was unhappy and making grunting noises with a new rash on his face, arms, chest and back apart from the chicken pox.

Dr Paul Hercock, emergency medical registrar, also found Lewis had breathing problems but was puzzled as his chest was clear. He could not make a firm diagnosis and felt he should be admitted for observations.

But senior house officer Dr Dhanitha Srivatsa, called by Dr Hercock, pronounced Lewis a 'very happy smiling child' and after discussions with locum registrar Dr Sarah McCullough who thought the rash might be an allergic reaction to the medication, Lewis was discharged.

Dr McCullough said Lewis’ temperature had come down and with no sign of respiratory distress she did not believe an X-ray was needed.

When Lewis was re-admitted on April 1, Dr Teresa Hamilton, who was training in paediatrics, said she found Lewis 'generally well, he wasn’t crying or irritable.' She did not find any sign of the new rash.

She discussed the case with a senior house officer and deputy ward manager and Lewis was discharged for a second time. 'Based on my examination I didn’t feel there were any worrying factors,' she said. 'His temperature had come down and the child looked reasonably well.'

Pathologist Dr Mudher Al-Adnani said Lewis contracted a Group A streptococus bacteria which spread through his body within two to three days. The chicken pox made Lewis more vulnerable and probably caused the pneumonia to develop.

Dr Kate Ward, a consultant paediatrician and child protection expert who was asked to give an overview said it was not well known that chicken pox carries a significant risk of invasive infections.

There were three opportunities when Lewis presented for doctors to consider if he had a bacterial infection and blood tests and a chest-ray should have been carried out.

Asked by coroner Nicola Mundy if earlier intervention could have prevented Lewis’ death she replied: 'Survival is not inevitable with antibiotics but obviously earlier appropriate treatment could have had an effect on his pneumonia.'

Dr Ward said on the balance of probabilities if antibiotics had been given on the three occasions Lewis would have survived.
The hearing continues.

Culled from The Daily Mail UK.

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