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Patient died despite alert over drug
Brother threatens legal action
A PSYCHIATRIC patient who spent 30 years in hospital died as a result of taking a drug that made him unable to fight off infections, an inquest has heard.
St Pancras Coroners Court heard on Tuesday that Colin Clark, 58, died in October 2004, when the anti-psychotic drug Clozapine wiped out his immune system, leaving his life in danger from even the most minor illness.
The inquest heard that the patient should have been taken to hospital immediately after a weekly blood test showed his white blood cells had been destroyed by the effects of the drug.
The court heard Mr Clark’s doctor did not react to the blood test until the day after the results had been received.
Three days later Mr Clark died at Whittington Hospital in Highgate.
Coroner Andrew Reid said: “Neither the duty nurse nor the on-call doctor were called when the results first were received. The staff grade doctor was not in the building on the day Mr Clark was taken ill. She received answer machine messages late that night asking for advice.”
Mr Clark collapsed the following morning and was rushed to hospital.
The verdict was that Mr Clark died of “Clozapine-related neutropenia”, a condition related to the immune system. It is the fourth Clozapine-related death to come before St Pancras Coroner’s Court in two years and the third involving a patient from the Camden and Islington trust.
Claims that staff at St Luke’s were not properly trained to cope with Clozapine-related emergencies were dismissed at the inquest by consultant psychiatrist Dr Farrar Anwar. Dr Anwar said: “It is not the responsibility of nurses to deal with emergencies. They are there to care.”
Mr Clark’s brother George, who lives in West Hampstead,claims that Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust was wrong to use the drug. He is now threatening to take legal action against the Trust.
He said: “I do not blame the staff. I blame the trust’s casual approach to putting my brother on this drug.”
His brother Colin, who was first ‘sectioned’ when he was aged 15, was put on the medication in August 2004. Clozapine is used to treat schizophrenia in patients who are unable to take other medicines.
But in October that year, a routine test indicated the presence of a serious blood disorder – a known side-effect of the Clozapine drug programme. This was confirmed by a second test.
One document obtained by Mr Clark’s brother reveals staff were unaware of the urgency of a red alert and that no staff in Willow House, had attended monthly training sessions provided by the hospital.
A spokesman for the Trust said: “After Mr Clark’s death we carried out an investigation into his care and treatment.
“We have updated our Clozapine guidelines and our training programmes.” |
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