Dunedin Family Seeks European Surgery After Misdiagnosis

The parents of a three-year-old girl from Dunedin are planning to take her to Europe for further treatment after she was subjected to a misdiagnosis and an inappropriate surgical procedure. Lubomira Weyland, who suffers from hip dysplasia, has endured unnecessary pain and trauma due to delays in her diagnosis and treatment. Her parents, Marvin Weyland and Agnieszka Sieradzka, have lost faith in the New Zealand health system.

The ordeal began when a Plunket nurse identified irregularities in Lubomira’s hip creases during a routine five-month check-up. Following this, her father consulted a general practitioner, who sought advice from a specialist at Dunedin Hospital’s orthopaedics department in April 2023. Marvin Weyland expressed concerns about the specialist’s approach, stating, “The only thing he did was look at the photo and decide based on that photo and the fact that her hips were checked when she was born, he assumed everything would be OK.”

Had the issue been detected earlier, treatment with a harness might have alleviated Lubomira’s condition. Instead, it was not until her preschool teacher noticed her limping two years later that further investigation was conducted. An X-ray confirmed that she had hip dysplasia, a condition where the femoral head does not fit properly into the pelvis socket, leading to potential complications such as uneven leg length, pain, early arthritis, and tissue necrosis.

In October 2024, Lubomira underwent a “closed reduction” surgery, where the surgeon manipulated the hip back into place while she was under general anaesthetic. Sieradzka had just given birth to Lubomira’s younger brother, who required a lengthy stay in neonatal intensive care. She described those months as challenging, stating, “Mira slept very badly in the cast, and having also a little baby who, on principle, doesn’t sleep very well, the nights were very difficult.”

Despite following up with the hospital after the surgery, the family noticed Lubomira limping again. “We had a second X-ray, and again it was obvious that her hip was dislocated. So it looked exactly like before the surgery,” Marvin said. Initially, the parents attributed this setback to bad luck, but further research and consultations with European specialists revealed that the closed reduction procedure was unlikely to succeed due to Lubomira’s age at the time of surgery.

Sieradzka expressed her devastation, saying, “It didn’t have any chance to succeed, and everything we went through was… I can’t even express the feeling of that.”

In response to the family’s plight, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) recognized the delayed diagnosis as a “treatment injury,” and Health NZ has since issued an apology for the distress caused. Craig Ashton, Southern Group Director of Operations for Health NZ, acknowledged the family’s distress and stated, “Our aim is always to provide excellent healthcare, and we take these matters extremely seriously.”

Health NZ has conducted an internal investigation to ascertain what went wrong and to implement necessary procedural changes. The investigation revealed that the general practitioner failed to make a formal referral concerning Lubomira’s hip condition. The specialist involved noted that while asymmetrical hip creases are not definitive indicators of hip dysplasia, he expressed regret for not identifying the issue sooner.

Following the investigation, Health NZ concluded that there is no fixed age at which closed reduction surgery should be deemed inappropriate, stating that treatment decisions in Lubomira’s case were consistent with clinical judgment at the time.

Now on a waiting list for corrective surgery at Starship Children’s Hospital since August 2023, the Weyland family is shifting their focus to overseas treatment. Marvin noted the differences in surgical approaches, saying, “Even the doctors at Starship don’t do the surgery often; they know one of several different techniques that might be necessary.”

The couple is actively fundraising to support their plan to take Lubomira to Poland for surgery, which they estimate will cost around $50,000, with travel and accommodation expenses potentially exceeding $20,000. Sieradzka reflected on the situation, admitting, “It’s caused a complete failure of trust in the healthcare professions.” They hope to proceed with the surgery in the coming months, seeking both resolution for their daughter and closure for their family’s challenging experience.