Ed Ramsay represented the family of George Robson (deceased) at the recent inquest into his death in December 2012, resulting from a massive upper gastrointestinal bleed whilst an inpatient at King’s College Hospital, London.
Mr Robson was 75. The cause of the bleed was oesophagitis and ulceration of the duodenum. After two days of witness and expert medical evidence, the Assistant Coroner for Inner South London concluded that Mr Robson’s death had been caused or materially contributed to by neglect in that Mr Robson had been on a repeat inpatient prescription of Naproxen (a Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug, which is well known to increase the risk of upper gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding) without a co-prescription of a Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) to provide necessary gastric protection. The Assistant Coroner concluded that the hospital were unaware of the Naproxen prescription until after Mr Robson began to display the tell-tale signs of an upper GI bleed. The evidence established that the use of PPIs was never considered. The Coroner concluded that his findings met the threshold for a rider of neglect, in line with the guidance set out in R v HM Coroner for North Humberside and Scunthorpe ex p Jamieson [1995] QB 1, namely that the death had been caused or materially contributed to by a gross failure to provide a dependent person with basic medical attention. A narrative conclusion was recorded in those terms.
Ed was initially instructed in 2013 by the charity Action Against Medical Accidents and then subsequently by Lynda Reynolds of Hugh James.
The inquest has been reported.
http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/12972720.
http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/widow-wants-lessons-learned-from-damning-kings-inquest/
