A family placed their trust in a child and adolescent mental health service to look after their son and to prescribe for him safely. That trust was not honoured. Our client, a young boy, was prescribed antipsychotic medication by a junior doctor who was not being properly supervised. Acting for the family, Coleman Legal secured a settlement of €100,000 through an HSE CAMHS scheme, with liability admitted, in 2026.

Our client was a young boy who was receiving care from a child and adolescent mental health service. His family placed their trust in that service to look after him and to prescribe for him safely.

He was prescribed a number of medications, including antipsychotic medication, by a junior doctor who was not being adequately supervised by a consultant. Over a short period he gained a significant amount of weight, lost interest in activities he had always enjoyed, and developed breast tissue. When the medication was stopped the weight came off, but some of the breast tissue remained.

How the claim was investigated

Steven Whelan and Keith Rolls acted for the family. A health service is responsible for making sure a junior doctor is properly supervised, and that medication as serious as antipsychotic medication is prescribed and monitored with real care. Independent evidence was obtained from a consultant child psychiatrist, a plastic surgeon and a clinical psychologist to set out what had gone wrong and its effect on our client.

The outcome

The matter was resolved in 2026 through the HSE CAMHS scheme by way of a settlement of €100,000, with liability admitted.

How Coleman Legal LLP Helped

Steven Whelan and Keith Rolls guided the family through the process from the first consultation. They instructed the medical experts whose evidence explained the failures in supervision and prescribing and the physical and psychological effects on our client, and they handled the process on the family’s behalf so the family did not have to.