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HEALTH AND MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE LAW AUSTRALIA
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CORONER'S INQUESTS / DEATHS and HEALTH LAW- NEWS
26.01.08 VIC: Mother dies giving birth- coroner rules her death was preventable Piyanat Siriwan began hemorrhaging uncontrollably after labour at the South Eastern Private Hospital, but her transfer to another hospital for life-saving surgery was delayed. The coroner found obstetrician and gynaecologist Maurice Lichter and anaesthetist Emlyn Williams contributed to Ms Siriwan's death. She recommended the Medical Practitioners Board take whatever action it deemed appropriate against the doctors. Source: news.com.au 26.01.08 24.01.08 NSW: Coroner finds that multiple errors at Royal North Shore Hospital resulted in Vanessa Anderson's death. The coroner in the inquest of teenager Vanessa Anderson, who was hit by a golf ball in 2005, said "almost every conceivable error or omission" had occurred in her treatment before her death and called for a wide-ranging inquiry into the NSW health system. The inquest was told she was given four times the therapeutic dose of codeine as well as the analgesic Endone. The inquest also was told she was not given anti-convulsive drugs to prevent a seizure. The inquest heard anaesthetist Sanaa Ismial gave Ms Anderson the wrong dose of a painkiller. Source: SMH 24.01.08 23.12.07 NSW: Bankstown Hospital and Westmead Childrens' Hospital... Boy dies of meningitis. 8 year old Isaraelu Pele died on Tuesday after medical staff allegedly failed to diagnose him correctly or even administer a test for meningitis during two hospital visits. Source: SMH 23.12.07.
08.12.07 QLD : THREE doctors face disciplinary action and possible deregistration after Queensland coroner found their unsatisfactory professional conduct contributed to the death of a Mt Isa mother of four. Deborah Burgen, 49, sought treatment at Mt Isa hospital's emergency department six times in the 11 days before her admission in February 2005. After she was finally admitted, she was operated on for bowel cancer but died the following day. Coroner found that Dr Rowland, Dr Ross Gallery and anaesthetist Nasseem Ashraf engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct, and recommended that the Queensland Medical Board take note of his findings and act on them
20.11.07 QLD: Ex-health chief to face action on Patel "Dr Death" scandal QUEENSLAND'S former chief health officer, Gerry FitzGerald, faces disciplinary action for his role in the Dr Jayant Patel scandal at Bundaberg Base Hospital after a dogged two-year pursuit by a doctor with the Royal Flying Doctor Service on the other side of the country. Source: news.com.au 20.11.07
30.10.07 Prominent QLD Surgeon has been charged with Manslaughter A Brisbane Professor at the Mater Hospital allegedly sliced open a woman's vein in a botched hysterectomy operation and then prescribed blood-thinning drugs that hastened her death. The Coroner has charged him with manslaughter. Source: www.news.com.au 30.10.07 ; Brisbane Times.
28.01.07 Cosmetic surgery death probe THE Coroner will investigate the death of a woman this week, three days after she had cosmetic surgery to remove fat. Lauren James, 26, who was treated at a Caulfield North surgery centre, died on Monday after complaining of bleeding and pain over the weekend. Her family vowed yesterday to join any call for tougher regulation of the vanity surgery industry if the coroner found her death was linked to the liposuction. (Sunday Herald Sun, 28 January 2007) 16.10.06 Lavarch 'misled' house on Dr Death 13.10.06 DPP overruled on Dr Death deal
12.10.06 Beattie scuttled Dr Death deal The Queensland Government blocked a secret deal that would have had rogue Indian-trained surgeon Jayant Patel voluntarily return to Australia to be charged with serious criminal offences before last month's state election. (Australian, 12 October 2006)
Hospital to blame for death
Mr Hunter was admitted to the Canberra Hospital on October 14, 2003. Two weeks later, he successfully underwent surgery. After being moved from a recovery ward to ward 10A, he suffered a heart attack and died several hours later. In yesterday's damning finding, Mr Thompson, said that in Canberra Hospital's ward 10A on the night in question, there had been a failure of organisation, a lack of knowledge, a failure to appreciate clinical urgency, a lack of supervision and a failure to seek advice. "The lack of care the deceased, Edward Hunter, of Dalmeny, had received in the ward was, in my opinion, a factor in Mr Hunter's ultimate death. "So, too, was the lack of monitoring of the amount of morphine he had received." "Mr Hunter's death was most unfortunate and, on all the evidence, preventable," Mr Thompson said. (Canberra Times, 11 October 2006) 20.09.06 Dr Death may flee as lawyers quit case
05.09.06 Third NT patient return bungle revealed The ABC has learnt of another case where a Northern Territory patient died after their return home from medical treatment was bungled. The Indigenous elder died in Alice Springs four years ago. The ABC has been told the elderly man was being taken home after his regular kidney dialysis treatment. However, instead of taking him to the Old Timers Nursing Home, the special bus took him to the Old Timers Town Camp. He was left in his wheelchair under a tree, where his body was eventually found.
Kidneys failed him - hospitals did, too THREE Sydney hospitals had let down a kidney patient, Wayne Brown, an inquest into his death has heard. The major failure was not putting the 40-year-old onto dialysis soon after he was diagnosed at Nepean Hospital, Penrith, with 90 per cent kidney failure in August 2003, a specialist, John Charlesworth, told the Glebe Coroner's Court yesterday. 01.09.06 Slow response 'contributed to death' A SENIOR Queensland Health doctor was suspended last night and faces at least two investigations over allegations his slow response to an emergency contributed to a patient's death. The unnamed doctor, at Murgon Hospital, 226km northeast of Brisbane, has been accused of being too far away from the hospital for a timely response to gravely ill patients while on call. It's understood the doctor, who eventually attended the emergency but was too late, has been disciplined by Murgon Hospital in the past. (Daily Telegraph, 1 September 2006)
Hospital sued over boy's death A FATHER who lost his son to meningococcal disease is suing a South Coast hospital after it allegedly twice sent him home with his sick child. Nicholas Constantini, 5, died 48 hours after his father first took him to the Shoalhaven Memorial District Hospital in January last year. Yesterday his father, Roy Constantini, of Nowra, sued in the NSW District Court, claiming damages for psychiatric injury he has suffered since his son's death. 30.08.06 Medico in death probe article by Leanne Edmistone (Courier-Mail, 30 August 2006) A DISGRACED Rockhampton psychiatrist and would-be politician banned last year from practising after a patient sex scandal faces fresh allegations he was responsible for another patient's death from a drug overdose. Christopher John Alroe, 50, had his medical licence cancelled for four years by the Health Practitioners' Tribunal in May 2005 after he was found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct for a sexual relationship with a registered nurse he had treated for a bipolar disorder. Alroe, who twice stood for the federal seat of Capricornia, was criticised by the tribunal for preying on the woman's vulnerability and for his "predatory and exploitative conduct". He appealed the tribunal's findings unsuccessfully. New allegations have surfaced this week that Alroe prescribed an excessive amount of medication for a patient with a history of drug abuse and significant mental illness without proper supervision measures being put in place. The male patient died four days later from what a coronial inquiry found was an overdose of methadone. A referral notice filed by the Medical Board of Queensland with the Queensland District Court on Monday stated Dr Alroe's actions in August 2003 constituted unsatisfactory professional conduct. The document said Alroe treated the male patient a number of times in 2003 knowing he had a significant history of drug abuse and significant psychiatric illness and had not complied with medication in the past. But on August 19 of that year, Alroe prescribed a number of controlled and restricted drugs for the patient, including 20 tablets of methadone. The patient died of an overdose on August 23. It was alleged the treatment was inappropriate because the prescription was excessive in the circumstances, and that Alroe did not ensure the patient was on a methadone program or that each dose was dispensed by a pharmacist or drug rehabilitation clinic. He also did not ensure the patient was well enough to use the medication without supervision. Steps were allegedly not taken to ensure there would be no misuse of the methadone, and Alroe did not ensure the patient received ongoing care. A directions hearing into the matter had yet to be set by the Health Practitioners Tribunal. Alroe's solicitor Damien Alroe, of Alroe and O'Sullivans solicitors, yesterday said there would be no comment until the matter was dealt with. 24.08.06 Coroner looks at meningococcal death 23.08.06 Doctor failed to take dead teen's asthma seriously
'Sent suicidal man to jail' Glenside Hospital clinical director Professor Norman James yesterday stood by his decision, telling State Coroner Mark Johns he did not believe Neil James Brooks, 43, would commit suicide.
Professor James was giving evidence into the death of Brooks, who suffocated himself with a plastic bag five months after he was detained at the remand centre in December, 2002. The inquest - which is examining the transfer of mental health patients between hospitals and the corrections system - continues. (Advertiser, 23 August 2006) 22.08.06 Antibiotics advice review after woman's death The national guidelines followed by the health officials who denied antibiotics to the meningococcal disease victim Jehan Nassif, 18, expressly warn against giving them to too many people during an outbreak. (SMH, 22 August 2006)
'Tragic' hospital decision defended
Grandmother labelled 'not for resuscitation' by hospital A 94-YEAR-OLD grandmother who told her family she was happy to wake up alive every day was listed as "not for resuscitation" against her family's will because of a misunderstanding at Frankston Hospital. Donna Kelly told the Melbourne Coroner's Court yesterday she was shocked to find the acronym "NFR" on her grandmother Phyllis Oldfield's medical records after she died in January last year. Her family believed they had consented to resuscitation in the event of a cardiac arrest. Mrs Oldfield, who was described as being bright and active leading up to her death, died from heart failure with "minimal" resuscitation attempts at the hospital on January 4, 12 days later. The inquest continues today. 21.08.06
Anger and disbelief at teen's death THE Health Department says it did not give antibiotics to an 18-year-old woman who later died of meningococcal disease because it was "following national guidelines".
The department's director-general, Robyn Kruk, announced an external review yesterday into the handling of the case of Jehan Nassif, of Yagoona, who died on Friday morning. Ms Nassif died less than three days after a visit to Bankstown Hospital to see her boyfriend's cousin, Elias Khouzame, who had the disease. Ms Nassif's boyfriend, George Khouzame, 19, had caught a Gulf Air flight home on Monday with Elias and two other relatives from a holiday in Greece. Elias had gone straight from the airport to the hospital with a fever. Mr Khouzame said he was called by the hospital at 5.30am on Tuesday and told his cousin had meningococcal disease. He was asked to attend the hospital for antibiotics. He said he was repeatedly told at the hospital that his girlfriend, Jehan, did not need antibiotics, despite having spent time with her on Monday night. Last night, the director of population health for the South-Western Sydney Area Health Service, Greg Stewart, said: "In relation to meningococcal, we follow the national guidelines and we follow them exactly… It's not the case that we give antibiotics to contacts of contacts." Mr Khouzame yesterday said he was angry and believed the public health system had cost his girlfriend her life. 24.07.06 Hospital audit on death led to payout Nardia Annette Cvitic, a 31-year-old mother of two, died from massive blood loss and organ failure after a hysterectomy performed by Bruce Ward at the Mater Hospital in 2002. A drain inserted into her pelvic area apparently punctured a major vein, a mistake compounded by Dr Ward wrongly prescribing a blood-thinning agent. The Mater commissioned a surgical audit from two professors who examined Dr Ward's treatment of 10 patients, including Cvitic, and warned "something is radically wrong and it cannot continue". District Court judge Helen O'Sullivan approved a settlement last week, a legal requirement given the age of the beneficiaries. Cvitic's youngest son, a 10-year-old diagnosed after his mother's death with Asperger's syndrome, will have $115,000 held in trust, while her eldest son, 16, will have $60,000 held in trust. The figures represent only what Cvitic would have provided for her children had she not died, and do not cover damages or compensation, even though dependency claims are usually an acknowledgement of negligence. Dr Ward was a professor at the University of Queensland for 10 years but left in 2003. While the Medical Board of Queensland has maintained his registration, he has lost the right to operate at the Mater and other public hospitals, but is understood to still work at Brisbane's Sunnybank Private Hospital. Australian Lawyers Alliance state president-elect Ian Brown said dependency claims were capped by the state Government. "Dependency claims, just like all others, are governed by the unfair restrictions of the liability reforms," Mr Brown said. Fur full article see: Sean Parnell, The Australian. 21.07.06 Hospital fails second dying woman AN Aboriginal woman has died after being turned away from her local hospital and forced to hitchhike to a neighbouring town to receive medical attention. For the second time in as many weeks, staff at Queensland's Cherbourg Hospital failed to help a dying woman, further inflaming tensions in the local community, where even the Mayor concedes a riot might be the only way to have their plight heard. Dawn Chambers, 60, was told to find her own way from Cherbourg, west of Gympie, to Murgon 6km away because no one at Cherbourg Hospital could use its X-ray equipment. Mrs Chambers died of an apparent heart attack last Monday after going home to wait for test results that came back the next day. Her family is outraged Cherbourg Hospital staff did not call an ambulance or help arrange alternative transport for a woman who was clearly in pain. Three days before Mrs Chambers's death, in the early hours of Saturday morning, 25-year-old Maureen Weazel was left to die outside Cherbourg Hospital, after nurses ignored her friend's frantic pleas. The hospital claimed a female patient mistook Ms Weazel's friend for her drunk and violent boyfriend, and asked for him to be kept out. The Australian last week revealed the tragedy, which will be investigated by the Coroner acting on reports from Queensland Health and police. Cherbourg Mayor Ken Bone has called for a government inquiry, accusing the hospital of covering up Ms Weazel's death. Despite several calls to Queensland Health following the two "unnecessary" deaths this month, Mr Bone said no one had returned his calls. Source: Annabelle McDonald, The Australian online 21.07.06.
20.07.06 THE Queensland Coroner is investigating the death of a Redcliffe Hospital patient after concerns raised by her husband saw her body exhumed from a grave less than two weeks after she was buried. Mrs Bodell was exhumed because her husband Dennis disputed the cause of death on her original death certificate, being emphysema. He said he contacted Queensland's acting Coroner Christine Clements and put his case to her. Upon the advice of two professors, Mr Bodell said Ms Clements ordered the exhumation. A Queensland Health spokeswoman yesterday confirmed the Redcliffe-Caboolture Health Service District was investigating complaints made by Mrs Bodell's family and the matter was before the Coroner. Source: thecouriernews.com.au 20.07.06.
Forensic doctor to face hearing
12.07.06 AN Austrian man, known as Dr Ozone, is being investigated by Australian police over the deaths of six Perth cancer patients and possibly others in Darwin. Hellfried Sartori, 67, is being held on charges of fraud and practising medicine without a licence in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Mr Sartori has served two prison terms in the US, in New York state in May 1992 and in Washington DC in July 1998, after administering his ozone treatments, Thai police Lieutenant General Phanuphong Singhara na Ayutthaya said. The treatment allegedly involves injections of liquid ozone into a patient's veins. Bangkok's Nation yesterday reported that one Australian cancer patient, Kathleen Preston, had died in a Thai hospital last July. An autopsy report found an excessive amount of potassium in her blood, the report stated. Ms Preston's death is being investigated by the Northern Territory Coroner, a spokeswoman, Lorelei Fong Lim, said. "The NT Coroner's office is investigating the death of NT resident Kathleen Preston," she said. "It would be inappropriate to speculate or pre-empt any outcome of the investigation." http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/aussie-cancer-patient-killed/2006/07/11/1152383741835.html
16.06.06 Hospital deaths referred to Coroner THREE patients have died after coming into contact with an airborne fungus in the past six months at Victoria's major cancer hospital, prompting it to refer the deaths to the Coroner.
The patients, who came in contact with the mould-like fungus aspergillus, had all been treated in the intensive care unit at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute. They were already sick and were having intense cancer treatment. It is not clear whether they acquired the aspergillus in intensive care or elsewhere. Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said she was confident the hospital's infection control was robust. "They've been extremely cautious," she said. "They have voluntarily notified the Coroner, even though this is not a notifiable disease." See full article- by Carol Nader June 16, 2006 http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/hospital-deaths-referred-to-coroner/2006/06/15/1149964674506.html?page=2
06.06.06 Queries on death of detective in hospital The State Coroner, John Abernethy, is inquiring into the medical and nursing treatment Mr Day received at Concord Repatriation General Hospital. See article by Leonie Lamont
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