Hospital pays out six figure sum to widow for error over antifungal drug

doi:10.1136/bmj.c6467

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Clare Dyer

¹BMJ

The widow of a man who died after being given five times the appropriate dose of an antifungal drug at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital has accepted a six figure sum plus costs in settlement of her compensation claim.

Paul Richards, 35, had side effects from chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in July 2007 when he was given a fatal dose of the antifungal amphotericin. An inquest into his death reached a verdict of accidental death contributed to by neglect, and the Heart of England NHS Trust, which is responsible for the hospital, admitted a breach of its duty of care.

Despite …