Grieving family to sue hospital

PETER VICTOR

The parents of the latest victim of meningitis vowed last night to sue the hospital which allegedly failed to recognise their daughter's symptoms.

Alison Krunic, a 17-year-old student, died on Tuesday morning from meningococcal septicaemia at Ealing Hospital, west London, after a doctor allegedly said she was suffering from a bad cold and gave her a painkilling injection.

Alison's parents, Borko and Vera Krunic, took her home by car despite her being unable to walk and being violently sick.

Within 90 minutes, she was unconscious and fighting for her life. The family called for an ambulance but one and a half hours later she was dead.

Mr Krunic said: "We shall take the strongest possible legal action against the hospital. We have lost our daughter and can never bring her back but we want to show the deteriorating state of the health system which has caused a lot of errors which are a result of demoralised staff."

A hospital spokeswoman said: "Staff are deeply shocked and distressed by Alison's death and extend their greatest sympathy to her family. The doctor who treated Alison saw no sign of meningococcal septicaemia when she came into the accident and emergency department.

"She had flu-like symptoms. He gave her a pain-killing injection and told her family that he would need to keep her in to see whether the drug had taken effect. But when he returned from seeing another patient Alison had been taken home."