The families of children who were reduced to “zombies” after a doctor misdiagnosed them have received more than £4m in compensation.
Dr Andrew Holton incorrectly told over 600 patients that they were suffering from epilepsy in what is one of the biggest examples of misdiagnosis in NHS history.
Many were given prescriptions to various drugs which were totally unnecessary. Some of the victims only had headaches or were simply badly behaved.
So far, 105 cases have been settled with former patients of Dr Andrew Holton. The incidents took place at Leicester Royal Infirmary between 1990 and 2001.
The highest single amount paid out was around £240,000, with damages at the lower end of the scale reaching a few thousand pounds.
Dr Holton was eventually suspended from his job 2001 after a number of complaints going back to 1995.
A subsequent inquiry discovered 618 cases of misdiagnosis and 500 children had received the wrong doses of medication.
The General Medical Council’s Fitness to Practice Panel ruled in January that his professional performance was “seriously deficient”.
Despite this, he returned to work at a later date with certain restrictions placed on him, which include not being allowed to work with children.
