Crumlin Children’s Hospital Apologises Over Death
Crumlin Hospital administration has apologised to the family of Ciara Lawlor. The inquest on the tragic teen, who collapsed at a concert in Marlay Park, found that a rare heart condition was the cause of death. Ciara’s family listened quietly as Crumlin Hospital staff described the circumstances of her treatment prior to her death in July 2016.
Dublin Coroner’s Court heard medical evidence from the Paediatric Cardiologist, Prof. Colin McMahon, with a diagram of a heart on a viewing screen. Ciara had been his patient from March 2014, complaining of heart palpitations, which distressed her as they stopped her from exercising, and she liked to exercise.
Ciara and her mother, Eimear Lawlor, came in for an April 2016 consultation. At that point, a Holter monitor test had been carried out, but the palpitations had not occurred. Echocardiograms (ECGs) had not revealed the problem. The doctor dictated a letter that day asking for Ciara to be given a monitored stress test on a treadmill, and had it sent that day. In the administrative process, the letter was typed, sent and received between buildings on one campus.
Prof. McMahon would not see the testing carried out but said, “I depend on locals being capable to process a certain level of test.” This stress test would have aided diagnosis. However, the hospital system lost the letter from the professor’s private clinic to the public hospital.
The Crumlin Children’s Hospital representative apologised in court for the communication failure at the administration level.
Prof. McMahon had hoped for a 4–5 weeks wait for the stress test, although the waiting list could be 6–7 months. Ciara had been placed on the medicine Flecainide twice daily, and an oblation procedure had been carried out. Pressed by the State solicitor, the cardiologist explained that he had been unable to diagnose in advance. The full name of Ciara’s extremely rare condition is arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), and most ARVC cases internationally are found post-mortem. Her family had no history of heart trouble, which would have aided diagnosis.
Ciara lived in Kildare but collapsed when she attended a Kodaline concert in Marlay Park, Rathfarnham, with a group of friends. She was immediately attended by paramedics and she was taken by ambulance to Tallaght Hospital. She died there later the same day, 8th July 2016. The Kodaline band members had attended the funeral of the brave and popular young fan.
The court recorded a narrative verdict. The medication Flecainide was standard treatment and was not held to have been a contributing factor in the death. Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane asked that a written document of information and treatment be given to a family with a sick child, as there was too much to take in for people who had no medical training. She added that her court reports “inform the body of scientific information which accumulates over the years.”
The Lawlor family received the verdict, the Coroner’s sympathies and the apology from the Crumlin Children’s Hospital, with dignity.
If you have concerns about any issues raised in this report, contact:
Irish Heart Foundation
Phone: (01) 668 5001
Dublin Coroner’s Court case: Ciara Lawlor.
Attended 7th November 2019.
