Islington News: Alexsander Marcin Franke | Toddler | Blood Poison | Dr Mahyar Noursadeghi | Haemolytic Streptococcus Group A Sepsis

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Islington Tribune - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 21 November 2008

Toddler died from rare infection hours after seeing doctor

A TODDLER died from a rare form of blood poisoning just four hours after he was seen by an emergency out-of-hours doctor.
At an inquest yesterday (Thursday), a coroner found that Alexsander Marcin Franke, aged two, died of natural causes and cleared Dr Mahyar Noursadeghi of neglect over his failure to spot the rare blood disorder, haemolytic streptococcus Group A sepsis.
The bacterial infection, which developed rapidly over the final hours of Alexsander’s life on Sunday July 20 and killed him by releasing a “cascade” of toxins into his blood, was described by an expert witness as so rare it was a “once in a lifetime” sighting for most paediatricians.
The Whittington Hospital’s consultant paediatrician, Caroline Fertleman, told St Pancras Coroner’s Court that the infection affected just two in every 50,000 and was so fast-acting that when Alexsander first came to the hospital – an hour and a half before his death – he was still playing with his toys.
Alexsander’s parents, Marcin and Magdalene Franke, took their son – who had been suffering from chickenpox for five days – to the Camidoc surgery at the Whittington at 4pm after growing alarmed at his blue lips and swollen knees.
But the early warning signs they described were disputed by Dr Noursadeghi at the inquest, who insisted he would have picked up on them had they been evident.
He said: “When I saw him I didn’t feel he was overly septic or that unwell.
“Clearly he had chickenpox but I didn’t feel he had any signs that he was as unwell as he turned out to be.”
Alexsander died in the accident and emergency department four hours later.
His parents, from Crouch End, urged the coroner to record the death as “natural causes aggravated by neglect”.
Instead, Dr Andrew Reid found the toddler died from “natural causes of which the rare nature and serious degree was not initially recognised”.
“I’m not persuaded that an act or omission by a healthcare professional in this case can be construed as amounting to a gross lack of basic medical attention,” he added, but warned “criticism can be made in relation to documentation and the application of NICE guidelines”.
Camidoc founder Michael Golding said an investigation was carried out – for only the second time in 12 years at the not-for-profit co-operative – which found Dr Noursadeghi’s care was “adequate”.
He added: “We are confident his care had no bearing on the final outcome of this tragic case.”

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