Tweet
An eight-year-old boy who was misdiagnosed with swine flu died as a result of natural causes aggravated by neglect, a coroner has ruled.Louis Austin, from Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, died from undiagnosed diabetes last July.
His family had called for an ambulance but it was thought he was a low priority and one was never dispatched.
When they called an out-of-hours GP he was diagnosed with swine flu and prescribed Tamiflu. He died days later.
During the inquest, held at Stockport Coroner's Court, an expert said if Louis had received the correct treatment he would have had a 95% chance of surviving.
The inquest was told how Louis, who also suffered from asthma, fell ill in July 2009.
He had been suffering headaches and chronic fatigue, and on 11 July his condition worsened and his family called 999.
But the operator did not class the call as urgent and referred Louis to the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) urgent care desk.
He was eventually told to call an out-of-hours GP, who prescribed Tamiflu.
The following day, Louis's mother found him cold and not breathing in bed.
He was taken to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital where he was pronounced dead.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.