Doctor on trial over death of patient opts out of giving evidence
A hospital registrar accused of killing a patient by injecting her with adrenaline opted not to give evidence at her trial.
A jury at Birmingham Crown Court was told by counsel acting for Dr Priya Ramnath, who is accused of killing Patricia Leighton in 1998, that she would not be called as a witness.
Ramnath, 40, is alleged to have gone against the advice of three colleagues at Stafford District General Hospital before injecting adrenaline into Mrs Leighton.
The defendant, who returned from the United States to the UK to face trial last year, denies the manslaughter of Mrs Leighton by gross negligence.
Jonathan Caplan QC, began Ramnath’s defence case by informing the trial judge that his client would not be called as a witness.
The lawyer then called Dr John Coakley, an expert in intensive care medicine who works at London’s Homerton Hospital, to give evidence.
Dr Coakley told the court that he believed Mrs Leighton died as a result of septic shock rather than the injection of adrenaline. He told the jury Mrs Leighton’s condition was critical when she was admitted to Stafford District General in July 1998 and that she had about a 50 per cent chance of survival.
Dr Coakley said: “I don’t envy any of the doctors that were present - this was a critically ill patient. If you believe that the situation is becoming out of control then you have to do something.”
Mr Caplan asked the witness what he believed the cause of Mrs Leighton’s death to be.
Dr Coakley, who said he himself had used adrenaline to “buy time” for other treatments, replied: “I think she died of septic shock.”
The expert also said that although adrenaline was dangerous, he would not have expected the dose given to Mrs Leighton to have resulted in death.
Ramnath is alleged to have acted against the express instructions and advice of colleagues when she administered the adrenaline.
The court has heard that moments after the injection Mrs Leighton lost consciousness and her heart stopped.
Jurors have been told that she suffered from arthritis and had been admitted to hospital in Cannock on July 20 after a wound on a bunion on her left foot became infected.
She then suffered side-effects from antibiotics and was transferred to Stafford, where she was admitted to intensive care with septic shock.
Ramnath, whose address cannot be published for legal reasons, came back to Britain in February last year after dropping her opposition to extradition proceedings.
The case continues
