Particle.news
Download on the App Store

HSE Apologises to Couple and Announces Independent Review After Wrong Trisomy 18 Advice

The move follows a 2021 liability admission to examine how safeguards failed.

Overview

  • HSE CEO Bernard Gloster said he met Rebecca Price and Pat Kiely and offered an unequivocal apology for the loss of their son Christopher.
  • He confirmed an independent external review will begin, with a lead reviewer to be appointed and participation sought from the National Maternity Hospital.
  • The couple terminated a pregnancy in March 2019 after screening and a rapid PCR test indicated Trisomy 18, but a later full cell culture showed the baby did not have Edwards' syndrome.
  • In 2021 they settled High Court actions with consultants, the National Maternity Hospital and a Glasgow laboratory, which admitted full liability.
  • Price and Kiely welcomed the apology and review and said their priority is understanding how this happened and why established safeguards were not applied, noting recent engagement with Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.