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The family of a pensioner who died after a procedure performed in the resuscitation room of the Limerick University Hospital emergency department has expressed concern regarding his mother’s discharge from both UHL and Ennis Hospital prior to her death.
Marian Feeley, 75, of Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, died several days after being admitted to UHL in February 2018, with pain and gallbladder problems.
The investigation had been postponed since September 2019 when Limerick coroner John McNamara had requested a statement from a radiologist before recording a finding in the woman’s case.
In 2018, the investigation heard that Ms. Feeley passed away at 1:42 p.m. on February 22, 2018.
Pathologist Dr. Olubunmi Ipadeola performed an autopsy and concluded that she died of septic shock, while also noting a number of other underlying conditions.
Ms Feeley’s family raised the issue of a procedure performed on her at the hospital, which resulted in a ruptured blood vessel and a hemorrhage in the liver, and asked if this could have contributed to her death.
Dr. Ipadeola had acknowledged the bleeding in his report, but noted that it was confined to the liver and still believed that sepsis was the leading cause of death.
When the investigation was resumed last week in the Kilmallock courthouse, it was heard that Ms. Feeley had been admitted to Limerick University Hospital in January 2018 with acute cholecystitis. She was later transferred to Ennis General Hospital and released.
She was subsequently readmitted to Limerick University Hospital on February 19, 2018, with suspected acute cholecystitis and sepsis.
Radiographer Siobhan McGrane read a statement and performed a procedure on Mrs Feeley in the resuscitation room of the Limerick University Hospital emergency department.
Dr. McGrane said that a CT scan confirmed acute cholecystitis and a localized perforation of the gallbladder.
He said he was informed that Ms. Feeley was seriously ill and was at risk of dying from sepsis. Dr. McGrane said it was decided that percutaneous cholecystostomy tube placement as an emergency procedure of last resort was the only viable clinical option available in addition to medical treatment to try to save Ms. Feeley’s life and could not be delayed in a safe way.
The investigation heard that consent was obtained from Ms. Feeley’s husband for the procedure.
However, family members who were present at the investigation expressed concern that the procedure could have contributed to the death of their mother.
They also expressed concern about “all of her care” at UHL and Ennis Hospital, particularly regarding Ms. Feeley’s discharge from both hospitals before they felt she was healthy enough to go home.
“I begged and begged them not to send her home because she was wrong. He wasn’t eating, he was vomiting, his stomach was still bloated, ”Ms. Feeley’s daughter, Laura Feeley, said in the investigation.
“We begged you not to send her home. In Limerick they told us that Mom was no longer an acute patient, so she had to go to Ennis and spent a week or so there, ”she added.
When asked by Coroner John McNamara how Ms. Feeley was at Ennis Hospital, Laura, Ms. Feeley’s daughter, responded, “She was very bad, very bad. She shouldn’t have been discharged. “
Ms Feeley said her mother was “rushed to the hospital and then the procedure was performed” and then died.
Mr. McNamara got up for a time to review all the statements in the case.
When the investigation was resumed, Mr. McNamara noted the family’s concerns regarding Ms. Feeley’s discharge from Limerick University Hospital and Ennis Hospital “in the recent past prior to her death.”
McNamara said he also understood the family was concerned about the bleeding after the procedure Ms. Feeley underwent, which radiographer Siobhán McGrane described in detail.
Mr. McNamara noted that Dr. McGrane had pointed out that there is a complication with the procedure in the liver that can result in bleeding.
“Dr. McGrane said that she would rather wait three to five days, but it seems her mother was very ill at the time,” she said.
Mr. McNamara said that he was taking into account what the family had told him but also had to be guided by what is in the records and what the doctors said in the investigation in their statements and what the pathologist who performed the autopsy said. said.
“When a pathologist makes a report in the case of a coroner, he is independent from the hospital. The coroner hires him to do it. I have to be guided by the medical findings of the autopsy and the tests, ”said Mr. McNamara.
He proposed to record a narrative verdict. Mr. McNamara explained that a narrative verdict is a statement of fact “or a summary of the facts.”
McNamara said the narrative verdict would be that Marian Feeley, 75, with a history of prior attendance at Ennis General Hospital, was admitted to Limerick University Hospital in January 2018 with acute cholecystitis. She was later transferred to Ennis General Hospital and released. She was subsequently readmitted to Limerick University Hospital on February 19, 2018, with suspected acute cholecystitis and sepsis.
“Later, she suffered a hemorrhage in the right lobe of the liver as a complication of the procedure that was later embolized to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, he deteriorated and died on February 22, 2018. He died as a result of acute cardiorespiratory failure and septic shock due to cholecystitis. One factor that contributed to his death was ischemic liver injury, after embolization after insertion of the cholecystostomy tube. “
Mr. McNamara expressed his sincere condolences to the family.
“I know nothing is going to bring your mom back. He’s obviously been through a very traumatic experience, ”he said.
A representative of the HSE present at the investigation expressed its condolences to the family on behalf of the HSE.
‘Not to question how our mother died would be to sweeten this narrative’
A statement issued by the Feeley family after the investigation says: “A narrative verdict has explained in small measures the events that led to the death of our mother, but for us it does not explain the What ?, Why ?, How ?, Who? or when? Our mother’s story was the beginning of the end when she visited a dentist in 2015, after four teeth were extracted in one go. Hours later, she lay sprawled on the kitchen floor, seemingly suffering from a stroke.
This blow left Mom unable to walk, but her sense of humor and will to live remained strong. In 2018, she began to have a fever and upper body aches. The hospital told us he had acute cholecystitis. They gave her antibiotics and sent her home. The hospital staff sadly told us that because she had had a stroke and her condition, there was nothing they could do if she returned. He needed a cholecystostomy.
The irony was the treatment he needed, so he proceeded when his health had seriously deteriorated a month later, injuring his liver, but eventually we are told that he died of heart failure and sepsis. Not to question how our mother died would be to sugarcoat this narrative. Everyone should know that the HSE book of condolences fills all the sacred halls of this country. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our mother’s caregivers ”.
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