Swine flu-linked death referred to coroner

The death of a Wellington woman from a brain virus after contracting swine flu should have been referred to the coroner, a finding released today says.

Hutt Hospital nurse Mony Heng, 39, died in Wellington Hospital on July 27 last year, 10 days after being admitted to the intensive care ward with breathing problems.

During her time in hospital, Ms Heng was sedated, put on a ventilator to help her breathe, given swine flu drug Tamiflu, antibiotics for other possible infections and medication for low blood pressure.

She remained critically ill but stable until July 25, when she had a very high fever and significant fluid retention, and was placed on a dialysis machine.

That night, she was found to have a dilated and unresponsive right pupil and was taken for an urgent CT scan which showed several parts of her brain had died due to a lack of blood supply.

Her family was given a prognosis of likely fatal brain damage, and on July 27, after a blessing by Buddhist monks, her treatment was withdrawn.

She died about midday on July 27, leaving behind her long-term partner and their six-year-old son.

A medical certificate from the hospital gave the cause of death as encephalitis of viral origin, following H1N1 (swine flu) pneumonia.

The hospital discussed her case with public health officials but not with the coroner because it was a one-off event - despite 72 people having already been hospitalised nationwide with swine flu.

Coroner Ian Smith said there was no question the matter should have been reported to the coroner, because the Coroners Act required all deaths that occurred during medical treatment to be reported.

The hospital had filled out a coronial notification form, and had attempted to contact the chief coroner on July 28, but there was no knowledge of any call being received, Mr Smith said.

Ms Heng's death should also have been reported due to the public interest about the swine flu pandemic and "the wider aspect of medical knowledge", to reduce the chances of future deaths in similar circumstances.

The Chief Coroner, Capital and Coast chief medical officer and Ministry of Health later reached an understanding on reporting "all such deaths" to the coroner, Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith concurred with the hospital's finding of Ms Heng's cause of death.

- NZPA