Family's claim over CJD death

The promising student was forced to give up his A-level studies

The family of a student who died from the human form of so-called mad cow disease, claim doctors at a Birmingham hospital failed to diagnose the condition.

Jorawar Gill, 20, from Warwickshire, died earlier this month after battling variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) for two-and-a-half years.

Mr Gill's family say doctors at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Birmingham, failed to diagnose the condition for the first year before specialists in London confirmed it was vCJD.

He died in the arms of his father, Nirbhal, who had given up work along with his mother, Jasbir to care for him, at their home in the village of Marston on 4 April.

We feel we should never have lost him

Jodhbir Gill

Speaking at the family home, Jorawar's brother Jodhbir, said the family wanted to know why the hospital had been unable to spot the deadly disease, while specialists at St Mary's Hospital, London, confirmed it within a month of carrying out tests.

"We, as a family, feel as though he has been killed," said Mr Gill.

"We feel we should never have lost him. We will be pursuing this issue with the hospital.

"Right up until he died we honestly believed he would get better. We are a family of Sikhs and have a strong faith so we prayed for him constantly."

Express condolences

Shortly after Mr Gill's 18th birthday in October 2000, his health rapidly deteriorated and he was forced to give up his A-level studies in economics, maths and history.

A spokesman for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital said: "We wish to express our condolences to the family.

"When he first came to the hospital, his symptoms were not typical of those associated with vCJD and we wished to explore every possibility of what his illness was.

"We referred him to London because they have more expertise at identifying the disease."