Man whose hearing loss was not diagnosed or treated for 10 years sues the HSE

High Court Reporters

A man whose hearing loss was not fully diagnosed or treated for ten years as a child has settled a High Court action against the HSE for €800,000.

Padraig Byrne, who has Down Syndrome, only got his first hearing assessment when he was 17 months old, but while a hearing loss was recorded it was claimed ,it was not adequately recognised or followed up until he was five years of age.

His counsel Hugh O’Keeffe SC, instructed by Damien Tansey Solicitors told the court that the treatment of the boy was “wholly inadequate.” It wasn’t until the boy was ten years of age that hearing aids to amplify sound were appropriately fitted and verified.

Counsel said a ten year delay was conceded in what was a very complicated case. At one stage, he said the little boy was given hearing aids “ that were clearly going to fail.”

Padraig did not have access to the full spectrum of speech sounds between birth and almost five years of age, and even then, his hearing aids were not optimized until he was ten years old, meaning that he did not have access to the speech spectrum during the optimal period for language development.

Counsel said it was their case had Padraig’s hearing loss been diagnosed earlier he would have been given a chance to have a degree of independent living and the delay has had “ a discernible effect on Padraig’s future independence.”.

The HSE, he said, conceded an earlier diagnosis may have benefitted the boy but it did not accept it had an effect on Padraig’s independence.

Padraig Byrne, now aged 20 years from Co Carlow, had, through his mother June Byrne, sued the HSE.

In the proceedings, it was claimed the delay had resulted in delayed access to optimum speech and language at a time critical for the boy’s development of speech and language.

The standard of audiological care that the boy received until September 2014, it was contended fell significantly below that reasonably expected, and the boy had been denied the best possible access to sound.

Approving the settlement Mr Justice Paul Coffey said he was satisfied that the very best had been achieved for Padraig and the offer was fair and reasonable.

In a separate case, a boy who the court heard suffered a likely net four-year delay in the diagnosis and treatment of his hearing loss settled his action for €310,000.

Oisin Flanagan, now aged 8 years of Portarlington, Co Offaly, had, through his mother Fiona Flanagan, sued the HSE. A breach of duty was admitted in the case.

It was claimed there was a failure to assess the boy’s hearing as requiring amplification, and he was allegedly deprived of the amplification required to access the speech spectrum of sound, which at that time was critical to his speech and language .

Approving the settlement Mr Justice Coffey said it was fair and reasonable.