06/02/2009
Doctor Guilty Of Fatal Adrenaline Injection
A doctor has been found guilty of manslaughter after killing a woman whom she injected with adrenalin, against advice.
Priya Ramnath, 40, was given a six-month suspended jail sentence at Birmingham Crown Court after being convicted.
She had denied manslaughter by gross negligence.
The court heard the Indian-born doctor had ignored the advice of three colleagues before she carried out the procedure on Patricia Leighton in 1998.
Mrs Leighton, from Burntwood, near Cannock, Staffordshire, died of heart failure shortly after being given adrenaline by Ramnath at Stafford District General Hospital.
Passing sentence, following the jury's 10-2 guilty verdict, Mrs Justice Rafferty said: "The jury has found that Mrs Leighton would have lived longer, perhaps days, but for your gross negligence.
"Her family's grief is the more complex as a result."
The judge added: "In my view the defining error was that you chose not to listen to Sister. She had a world of experience to offer you and she offered it. Arrogance is not attractive and it has cost you your reputation."
However, she added she had taken into account that the ITU at the hospital had been "wholly unprepared" for what it had to cope with when Mrs Leighton arrived and that no one had taken control or worked to a 'consistent' system.
She said: "The result was that you panicked in the pressure cooker of the ITU."
(JM/BMcC)
Priya Ramnath, 40, was given a six-month suspended jail sentence at Birmingham Crown Court after being convicted.
She had denied manslaughter by gross negligence.
The court heard the Indian-born doctor had ignored the advice of three colleagues before she carried out the procedure on Patricia Leighton in 1998.
Mrs Leighton, from Burntwood, near Cannock, Staffordshire, died of heart failure shortly after being given adrenaline by Ramnath at Stafford District General Hospital.
Passing sentence, following the jury's 10-2 guilty verdict, Mrs Justice Rafferty said: "The jury has found that Mrs Leighton would have lived longer, perhaps days, but for your gross negligence.
"Her family's grief is the more complex as a result."
The judge added: "In my view the defining error was that you chose not to listen to Sister. She had a world of experience to offer you and she offered it. Arrogance is not attractive and it has cost you your reputation."
However, she added she had taken into account that the ITU at the hospital had been "wholly unprepared" for what it had to cope with when Mrs Leighton arrived and that no one had taken control or worked to a 'consistent' system.
She said: "The result was that you panicked in the pressure cooker of the ITU."
(JM/BMcC)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.