Inquest hears Achill family unhappy with hospital care given to teenage son

THE parents of a teenager have expressed concern at the level of care he received in Mayo University Hospital in the days before his sudden death in 2021.

Fourteen-year-old Joseph McGinty of The Valley, Achill died enroute to Mayo University Hospital on September 13, 2021 after suddenly falling ill in his home.

The inquest into his death which opened this morning in Swinford Courthouse heard that the teenager experienced significant weight-loss in the four months before his death and he was unable to hold down food.

He attended Mayo University Hospital on September 1, 2021 and was treated with suspected gastroenteritis and was discharged the following morning despite concerns of some nursing staff. He attended the hospital again on September 8 after his condition failed to improve. His mother, Patricia McGinty told the inquest that he was sent home that day despite feeling dizzy and weak.

He continued to get sick over the coming days and collapsed in his home in the morning of September 13 and was pronounced dead at 7.47am on his way to hospital.

Master McGinty was described as being a 'very sick boy' and his GP, Dr Edward King recommended that an 'urgent investigation' be carried out to diagnose his condition in his referral letter to the hospital.

The inquest was told that apart from bloods being taken there was no other investigation despite Mrs McGinty asking the doctor to perform scans or x-rays. She said she was told he was not sick enough for that and was sent home.

The post mortem into Joseph McGinty's death found that the cause of death was due to profound adrenal pathology consistent with Addison's Disease, who was described as 'extremely rare'. The condition is a rare disorder of the adrenal glands where not enough cortisol and aldosterone are produced. Loss of appetite, unintentional weight loss and fatigue are some of the symptoms, the inquest heard.

About 8,400 people in the UK have Addison's disease and it is most common between the ages of 30 and 50. It's also more common in women than men.

Master McGinty's parents, John Paul and Patricia McGinty both told the inquest that they were concerned with the level of care given to their son before his death and that proper investigations were not carried out to perform a proper diagnosis.

Mrs McGinty said they had offered to pay for a scan or x-ray but were refused and Mr McGinty said they had hoped their son could be sent to Crumlin Children's Hospital or to Galway University Hospital to get to the bottom of his ongoing health issues.

Mr McGinty also described as diabolical the treatment of the family by MHU following their son's death after saying they retained his organs without their knowledge. He said that three months after his death, the local undertaker informed him that the hospital had contacted her to say he had until 3pm that day to collect the organs.

Mr McGinty said he had no idea that the hospital had retained the organs until then and the family had to organise to collect them and have them interned with the body of their son.

When questioned by Mr Michael O'Connor, senior counsel for the McGinty family, Dr King expressed surprise when he heard that Master McGinty was discharged from hospital. He said that blood tests showed that Master McGinty's sodium levels were below what they should be. Subsequent blood tests showed the levels had not returned to normal as would be expected after treatment.

He added that it would be unusual for a case of gastroenteritis to last longer than ten days but he never saw a case go on for four months.

He said that an ultrasound and a CT would be normal procedure if there was no diagnosis and commented that he believed investigations into his condition were 'incomplete' .

Dr King agreed that Addison's Disease is an extremely rare condition but it can be treated with medication after diagnosis and people treated for the disease should have a normal life expectancy.

The inquest heard that Master McGinty was given the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on August 20 and there was concern that this may have contributed to his deterioration in health and subsequent death.

The post mortem file was referred to Dr Michael McDermott, Consultant Histopathologist in the Children's Hospital in Crumlin who diagnosed the cause of death as being associated with Addison's Disease. He also examined any connection with the Covid vaccine and in his conclusions stated that there is no evidence of myocarditis, a condition that has been associated with Covid vaccines and any connections between the death and vaccines 'is speculation at this point in time'.

Coroner for the district of Mayo, Patrick O'Connor told the inquest from the outset that the inquest was an enquiry into the death of Master McGinty and was not an enquiry into Covid-19 or the question of vaccines in the country and he would not entertain questioning of this nature.

The inquest is expected to continue for two further days with evidence to be heard from hospital staff and also from Dr Gillian Ellsbury, Pfizer's UK vaccines medical director who is scheduled to give evidence to the inquest on Thursday morning via videolink.