Rate of misdiagnosis of childhood epilepsy “may not be unusual”

A misdiagnosis rate of almost one in three cases of childhood epilepsy, made by a consultant paediatrician in Leicester, “may not be unusual,” concludes an 18 month investigation of his clinical practice.

But more than 300 families are pursuing legal action against the trust involved, and furious parents continue to press for an independent inquiry.

Dr Andrew Holton was suspended from his post at Leicester Royal Infirmary in May 2001, after an internal review of children's services at the hospital and mounting numbers of complaints from parents and clinicians (BMJ 2001;323:1323). Dr Holton, who was not a paediatric neurologist, had looked …