€300k for failure to identify child’s hearing loss

A 17-year-old who claimed his profound hearing loss was not picked up until he was more than three years of age has settled an action for damages over the alleged delay for €300,000.

Liam Burke Castlemaine, Co Kerry, through his mother Mary Burke, sued the HSE and Patricia Heffernan, a senior audiologist with the National Rehabilitation Board, now the HSE Hearing Service, and operating out of Kerry General Hospital, Tralee.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told the settlement was without admission of liability.

It was claimed that Liam was profoundly deaf and had profound inner hearing loss from birth. The appropriate management to minimise any long-term handicap, it was claimed, would have been for Liam to have had his profound deafness confirmed after failing his screening distinction tests, and to have been referred for cochlear implant.

It was claimed that Liam was misdiagnosed as having a milder hearing loss due to glue ear and had three sets of grommets inserted, none of which significantly reduced his disability or handicap.

The true cause of severity of Liam’s hearing loss was not suspected until he was over three years of age, and was not confirmed until three years and nine months.

It was claimed that Liam’s care by Ms Heffernan and the body now called the HSE Hearing Service fell below an acceptable standard in that Liam’s profound hearing loss was not recognised by Ms Heffernan.

Liam’s counsel, John O’Mahony SC, said there were “wildly fluctuating” test results from the time Liam was nine months to more than three years of age. He said the wildly fluctuating results did not get the attention they deserved.

Dr O’Mahony said red flags should have been raised by the results and by the concerns expressed by Liam’s parents that he had a difficulty with hearing. He said there was a delayed diagnosis of hearing loss. The defendants, he said, claimed the hearing loss was progressive and fluctuating.

Liam had an implant but there was still an element of lip-reading for him, and there was a speech and language delay, said Dr O’Mahony.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross said it was a good settlement and hoped Liam would do well in his studies and have a great life. The settlement, said the judge, would give Liam a cushion for the future.