A BABY girl developed brain damage and died five years later after being poisoned by food which contained magnesium levels 120 times above normal.
Elaine Barrett from Galway, who was born prematurely, was less than six weeks old when she was given a special bag of food supplement in May 2003 which was contaminated. Her father Frank Barrett, of Cloonacauneen, Claregalway, yesterday said he and his wife Eileen were told Elaine had little chance of survival after being fed the contaminated feed.
A consultant paediatrician told Galway Coroner’s Court that Elaine would have died much earlier were it not for the remarkable care given to her by her parents.
A multinational medical firm yesterday issued an apology to the Barrett family for manufacturing the baby feed, Total Parental Nutrition (TPN), which caused massive brain damage.
However, the coroner’s court was told the family had waited seven years for an explanation and apology from B. Braun Medical, of Naas Road Industrial Park, Dublin, and that the German firm had tried to blame a hospital in Galway for the brain damage caused.
Mr Barrett said the family had looked after Elaine at home for almost 5½ years and had to borrow money to pay for nursing care.
The couple have two other children, Lorna (3) and Cormac (11 months). Mr Barrett told coroner Dr Ciarán McLaughlin he and his wife wanted to ensure another family did not go through what they had.
The court was told that Elaine was born by emergency C-section at Holles Street maternity hospital in Dublin on April 16th, 2003, premature at 26 weeks gestation. She was transferred to Galway but required at times to be fed intravenously and was given TPN. Each bag was made to individual specifications for each patient following instructions from the hospital.
Dr Kevin Dunne, a consultant paediatrician at Galway University Hospital, said two bags of TPN had been ordered but when the first of these was fed to Elaine, she became extremely agitated and her condition deteriorated. The court heard the magnesium level in the bag was 120 times above what it should have been. The effect on Elaine was catastrophic. She died on October 16th, 2008.
An investigation by the firm found magnesium from a previous bag was fed into the bag given to Elaine. Managing director Paul Mullally said new systems were put in place to ensure a similar error would not occur. The court was told a civil action had been agreed between the family and the firm. The inquest continues today.