Misdiagnosed toddler died after murder-accused paediatric surgeon operated

Toddler Ethan Teubes was admitted to Mediclinic Morningside on 29 March 2012, on what was his third birthday.

He had been struggling with stomach problems since around 18 months old and tests had indicated the possibility of Hirschsprung’s Disease, a congenital condition affecting the large intestine.

A biopsy was recommended to confirm, though, and paediatric surgeon Peter Beale had performed this.

Ethan’s father Sean said Beale had confirmed the diagnosis with his wife, Deborah, and explained that Ethan required pull-through surgery.

Ethan went into theatre the day after his birthday. But he started vomiting, complaining of pain and experiencing breathing problems shortly after he came out two hours later, according to his father.

His condition worsened as the night went on until eventually Ethan was taken to ICU in the early hours of the following morning. Ethan had ultimately suffered cardiac arrest.

Doctors managed to resuscitate him at the time, but a subsequent examination showed Ethan was brain dead. On 3 April 2012, his family took the heartbreaking step of switching off his life support.

The autopsy found Ethan’s death was “consistent with septic peritonitis as a complication of surgery for Hirschsprung’s disease”.

As it turned out, though, his father said two reports – one from before Ethan’s surgery and one after – had revealed his son didn’t appear to have Hirschsprung’s Disease in the first place.

The family, through their attorneys, lodged a complaint with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) in October 2012, and informed Mediclinic of this.

Mediclinic confirmed to Ethan’s father that Beale’s admission privileges were withdrawn in November 2016, but only after Alissa Strydom’s death, which was four years after Ethan’s.

And, he said, it took two years for the council’s probe to begin and another three to finalise it.

Beale was acquitted of all but two of the six charges in the end – being “inappropriate or unprofessional” and having “brought the profession into disrepute” by being rude – and fined R15 000.

Teubes said the family was contacted by an HPCSA investigator again in November 2019, following Zayyaan Sayed’s death. To date, though, he said the family had not had any feedback.

Neither Beale, nor the HPCSA responded to a request to comment on this case. Mediclinic Southern Africa said it was “not at liberty to provide details of the circumstances in which Professor Beale ceased using our facilities as this involves confidential information”.

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