Sultana Choudhury: death caused by neglect where hospital failed to identify renal bleed following voluntary biopsy for research purposes
Sultana Choudhury, a much-loved mother and grandmother, died in Whipps Cross Hospital on 17th December 2022. Tragically, this was as a result of complications arising from an entirely voluntary kidney biopsy which doctors had persuaded her to undergo for research purposes. Sultana suffered a renal bleed which was never identified by hospital staff, despite her having falling haemoglobin levels and frank haematuria with blood clots, which resulted in a blood transfusion. Had a repeat CT scan been carried out, this would have identified the bleed and led to measures which would have saved her life. Instead, Sultana was actually given anticoagulant medication (Enoxaparin), which accelerated the bleed.
The Senior Coroner for East London, Mr Graeme Irvine, concluded that Sultana Choudhury died as a result of a series of failings by hospital staff which, taken together, were so serious that they amounted to neglect. The Senior Coroner will issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report to both Barts Health NHS Trust and the Department of Health, and expressed particular concern about the lack of ‘personal responsibility’ for the failures which led to Sultana’s death.
You can read a detailed summary of the case by Leigh Day (here), as well as reporting by the Evening Standard (here) and Waltham Forest Echo (here).
The family was represented by Matthew Turner instructed by Frankie Rhodes of Leigh Day.
Matthew is a specialist in hospital deaths and medical deaths in custody, and welcomes instructions to represent families in inquests where there is likely to be a follow-on clinical negligence claim.
He has secured neglect verdicts in six different inquests since December 2021.
