NY hospital admits poor treatment of Irish boy who died from infected cut

New York University hospital has admitted that a 12-year-old Irish boy who died in their care was a victim of poor treatment.

Rory Staunton, a nephew to IrishCentral.com founder Niall O'Dowd and to Fine Gael Minister Fergus O'Dowd, was brought to the hospital after a cut sustained in a fall became infected.

However he was misdiagnosed as having contracted a stomach virus and sent home.

He died a few days later of toxic shock syndrome which could have been treated with antibiotics in its early stages.

Today the hospital said the Staunton case had the potential to yield far reaching-improvements in patient care.

It said it intends to dramatically change its emergency room procedures as a direct result of what happened to Rory.