Decision Report 201405519

Summary

Mr C complained on behalf of the family of Miss A that the care and treatment she received from the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital was unreasonable in so far as it was decided not to provide her with further Intravenous Immunoglobulin Treatment (IVIG, the administration of blood plasma containing antibodies intravenously/into the veins).

Miss A has suffered a rare, slow progressive peripheral nerve dysfunction since she was small. It was not able to diagnose this definitively until 2012. Before that, Miss A had been treated with IVIG on the basis that there was nothing to lose by doing so. Her mother, Mrs A, thought that IVIG made a significant improvement to her condition and wished the treatment to continue. However, the board were of the view that once a diagnosis had been made which indicated Miss A's inability to process vitamin B2, she should be treated with riboflavin.

The complaint was investigated and we took independent advice from a paediatric neurologist. This showed that Miss A's treatment was in accordance with current medical practice and was reasonable; there would be no benefit from her receiving IVIG. Accordingly, we did not uphold Mr C's complaint.