pounds 4.5m for boy, 8, in meningitis blunder

AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD boy who suffered brain damage after doctors failed to diagnose meningitis when he was six months old was awarded record damages of more than pounds 4.5m yesterday.

The award to Andrico Milloshas of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, is equal to the largest ever made against the NHS and highlights the growing financial pressure from medical negligence claims.

The size of awards has escalated since a decision by the House of Lords last year which changed the way the financial calculation for future needs is made. Yesterday, a second award of pounds 3.3m was made to a nine-year- old boy, Edward Parry, who was brain damaged after being starved of oxygen during his birth at St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey.

In Andrico Milloshas's case, the court was told he developed epilepsy as a result of brain damage and was also prone to violent and unpredictable behaviour after being misdiagnosed at Stafford General Hospital.

His mother Elizabeth, 31, wept as she described having to hide in the kitchen with her younger daughter to stop Andrico snatching the child out of her arms. The court was told that Andrico was strong and powerful and could lash out violently, he needed two carers used to dealing with adults to look after him.