A newborn baby has been given a tuberculosis vaccine overdose at Scunthorpe General Hospital, according to the boy’s family.

The boy was given 10 times the usual dose of 0.5mg of the BCG vaccine, according to the baby’s family lawyers.

The baby, who was born on February 5, is now being helped the National Poisons Information Service and an immunology specialist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

David Body, of Irwin Mitchell lawyers, spoke on behalf of the family: “This case raises important questions about basic systems in hospitals to ensure the safe administration of drugs, including vaccines.”

Reports that similar mistakes on other patients were made at the hospital will be followed up, Mr Body said.

“It is important that we get answers about how and why this has happened. It is unclear how many people have been affected but we have received reports that others may also have been given the same overdose.”

Scunthorpe General Hospital spokesman Simon Rigg said an investigation is taking place.

A health trust in charge of a hospital in which a woman died because she given the wrong drug almost six years ago has admitted breaking health and safety laws.

Mayra Cabrera, 30, died soon after she gave birth at Great Western Hospital in Swindon in May 2004. Ms Cabrera had worked in the hospital as a nurse.

She was given Bupivacaine, an anaesthetic, rather than the saline solution she was supposed to get in order to raise her blood pressure. A heart attack killed Ms Cabrera minutes later because of the toxicity of the drug.

During a hearing at Swindon Magistrates’ Court, Great Western Hospitals NHS Trust admitted an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act, relating to “risks arising from the storage of drugs and drugs errors”. Sentencing will take place at a later date.

In February 2008, an inquest in Wiltshire ruled that Mrs Cabrera was unlawfully killed because of the negligent storage of Bupivacaine. The practice of storing drugs in the hospital’s delivery suites was “chaotic”, the inquest heard.

The money, from the Scottish Government, will be used to make changes to homes and enable people to buy specialist equipment.

Thalidomide was used to treat morning sickness and insomnia in the late 50s and early 60s but was withdrawn from sales in 1961 after babies were born with physical disabilities.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “Half a century later, the survivors of thalidomide are still battling against the disabilities the prescribing of the drug caused.

“Now, as they become older, they are likely to need a range of assistance and adaptation to enable them to continue to live as independently as possible, for as long as possible, and this funding will help them to do that.”

UK Health Minister Mike O’Brien announced a £20 million fund last month when he apologised for the scandal surrounding the drug’s history.

The drug’s UK manufacturer, Distillers Biochemicals, paid about £28 million compensation in the 1970s following a legal battle by the families of those affected.

Pc Miles Wilson, 37, was injured on November 17 last year after he fell while responding to an urgent call for assistance.

He was taken to Southampton General Hospital, where it is claimed that treatment failings, an inadequate diagnosis and a five-day wait for an MRI scan led to the unnecessary amputation of his leg.

Paul Sankey, partner at Russell Jones & Walker solicitors who is representing Mr Wilson, said: “For a young man to lose a leg is devastating but to know that the loss could have been avoided by proper care is worse.

“The delays Pc Wilson experienced at Southampton General Hospital were unacceptable and we will be seeking compensation to pay for the ongoing support he will require in the future.”

Dr Michael Marsh, medical director for Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, said an internal review was being carried out into Pc Wilson’s care.

He added: “This has been a personal tragedy for Mr Wilson and his family and we extend our deepest sympathy.”

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Stephen Clark, 50, said he spotted the cancerous tumour on an X-ray he was shown by his wife…{+}

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