'Lying doctor failed to spot meningitis' that wrecked a girl's life: Now she is set for a seven-figure sum

A baby suffered catastrophic brain damage after a junior doctor failed to spot she had meningitis and lied to her parents that he had sought a second opinion from a consultant, a court heard yesterday.

Dr Halenahalli Vijayakumar told Mark and Diane Pierce their daughter Kate was merely suffering from viral tonsillitis. 


But when they requested a second opinion, he disappeared for 45 minutes before returning and, they say, informing them that his ‘boss’ agreed with his diagnosis.

But the junior hospital doctor had not sought the second opinion of a senior doctor and had simply lied to the couple, it is alleged.

Nine-month-old Kate was wrongly sent home, but hours later she was taken back to the same hospital where she was correctly diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis.       More Read