Baby died after diagnosis

Press, 22 June 1984, Page 12

Baby died after diagnosis

PA Auckland A toddler, aged 14 months, sent home by a doctor at Middlemore Hospital might have been saved if admitted to the hospital for a few hours, according to the Coroner in Auckland.

If the baby had been admitted a proper diagnosis might have been made, he said.

Nicholas Muller, of Otara, died of acute bronchiolitis on April 26, five hours after being sent home from the accident and emergency

section of the hospital. The Coroner’s Court heard yesterday that the physician who had examined Nicholas, Dr Graeme Webster, had diagnosed gastro-enteritis. Summing up, the Coroner said Dr Webster had given no regard in his diagnosis to two previous respiratory attacks suffered by the patient and treated in hospital. The baby’s father, Mr Mark Muller, aged 22, said today he was not prepared to “forgive and forget” his

son’s death. “I’m very angry. We put our boy’s life into that doctor’s hands. “I trusted the judgment of the doctor. We thought he would know the right thing to do.” He was pleased with the finding of the Coroner but would take the matter further, he said. Nicholas’ grandmother, Mrs Lillian Hall, said she feared other young children could suffer her grandson’s fate “if something isn’t done.”