GMC investigates doctors over baby overdose

The baby, who suffered from the neurological disorder Sturge-Weber syndrome, was receiving treatment at Homerton hospital, east London, when he was given an accidental overdose of the anti-epileptic drug Phenytoin.

A Metropolitan Police report prepared for the coroner, seen by Channel 4 News, suggested that the baby had received “between 9.79 and 12.57 times the amount of Phenytoin in 6 hours 8 minutes than the amount he should have received in 24 hours.”

Dr John Coakley, medical director at Homerton Hospital, told Channel 4 News that the error was “almost inconceivable”. He has apologised in person to the parents of Lucas Stachursky, describing the mistake as “catastrophic”.

The GMC investigation follows an inquest into the death of Lucas which concluded last month that a gross lack of medical attention had directly contributed to the boy’s death.

The three doctors – a consultant paediatrician, a registrar and a senior house officer – are still fully registered to practise. Channel 4 News understands that all three were temporarily suspended from prescribing drugs after the incident, but that they have since passed internal assessments allowing them to prescribe again.

In the hours leading up to Lucas’s death, according to the coroner, a breakdown in communication between the medical team resulted in the wrong dosage of the wrong drug being administered to the baby. The error was not spotted for several hours.

When it was finally detected, Lucas was already experiencing a major cardiovascular collapse.

In a letter to Lucas’s parents Anna Holzscheiter and Benjamin Stachursky, an investigating officer from the General Medical Council writes: “May I begin by offering my condolences on the loss of your son. We became aware of the case as the result of reporting in the national media of the recent Coroner’s verdict and have begun an investigation…

“We have been in contact with both the Homerton Hospital NHS Trust and the Metropolitan Police to request disclosure of all investigation documents. Upon receipt of these documents it is our intention to obtain an expert opinion of our own on the actions of the three doctors and whether they fell significantly below an acceptable standard of practise. We will also be carrying out wider checks of all three doctors’ work.”

Lucas’ parents returned to Germany earlier this year to have a second child. In an exclusive interview with Channel 4 News last month, his father Mr Stachursky told the programme: “The thought of having another baby in London was just not conceivable for us because we wouldn’t have been able to just go into hospital and trust – to put the new baby’s life in their hands.”