The Tasmanian government says it is not responsible for the cyber bullying of a teenage boy suffering hearing loss after waiting three years for an operation.
Jeremy Brewer, 15, of Hobart, should have had surgery on a perforated eardrum more than three years ago, his doctor Graeme Alexander says.
The developmentally delayed teenager's hearing and speech has deteriorated and he is now almost deaf.
His mother Vanessa Brewer says her son is failing Year 10 and has become the target of bullies at school.
"He has a lot of problems at school with kids, he was actually put on YouTube as a retard and a mute, a Year 10 kid that can't speak properly," Ms Brewer told News Ltd.
Health Minister Lara Giddings today said Jeremy's development had been delayed by two or three years due to an administrative mistake delaying his surgery at Royal Hobart Hospital.
Ms Giddings said Jeremy's bullying was "absolutely disgraceful" but it was not the hospital's fault.
"I hope the young people who put that on YouTube and thought that it was funny are thinking very hard about that now and very hard about the consequences," Ms Giddings told ABC radio today.
"But I don't think it's fair to say that the hospital is responsible for what some teenagers have done in putting something on YouTube in that way.
"I certainly see that we are responsible, that we have made a mistake in terms of his categorisation, and getting him seen in the time frame he should have been seen in."
Ms Giddings said human error had allowed Jeremy to "fall through the cracks" of the health system after being mistakenly categorised with a less urgent need for surgery.
