Parents of tragic Elaine ask: ‘Why did we not get the truth’

Date Published: 16-Sep-2010

By Darragh McDonagh

The parents of a five-year old girl who suffered brain damage and later died as a result of magnesium poisoning from a defective nutritional product have criticised the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) for withholding the findings of an investigation into the matter for seven years.

An inquest into the death of Elaine Barrett from Cloon-acauneen, Claregalway heard yesterday that both the IMB and the manufacturers of the product knew of the circumstances surrounding an incident which led to the nutrient being contaminated with 124 times the stated dose of magnesium in 2003.

Frank and Eileen Barrett said that the inquest had provided them with answers to questions surrounding their daughter’s death that had been denied to them for seven years and provided closure that was needed for them to proceed with their lives.

“Since this whole ordeal began all we have ever wanted to know is how and why it happened,” they said following the verdict. “It took Elaine’s death and a coroner’s inquest for us to be told what happened.

“We ask the question why the IMB weren’t required to furnish us with the findings of their investigation… instead we were forced to embark on expensive litigation in an attempt to get the truth of the matter.”

West Galway Coroner Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin returned a verdict of death by medical accident from complications arising from a brain injury that was incurred as a result of magnesium poisoning after Elaine was intravenously fed from a bag containing a product made by German company, B. Braun Medical Ltd.

The inquest heard that a combination of technical fault and human error resulted in a compound prepared for the premature baby being contaminated with an excessive level of magnesium.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.