The family of a man who died when an air bubble formed in his blood system and travelled to his brain when a central line in his neck was taken out in hospital has settled a High Court action over his death.
Father and grandfather of nine Martin Best (67) was due to be discharged from Mayo University Hospital when the central venous catheter (CVC) line, which had been used to give medication, was taken out of his neck while he was sitting up instead of lying down.
The family’s counsel, Damien Higgins SC, instructed by David O’Malley solicitor, told the High Court that air went into Mr Best’s system and travelled to his brain, causing a catastrophic neurological injury. He died four days later on January 12th, 2019, at the Castlebar hospital.
Mr Higgins said Mr Best should have been lying down when the CVC line was removed.
In a letter of apology read to the High Court, Mayo University Hospital said it accepted there was a deviation in protocol for removal of CVC lines allowing Mr Best to sit up during the removal procedure.
It said it was also accepted that a coroner’s postmortem rather than a hospital post-mortem should have been arranged following his death.
“These issues are deeply regretted and we wish to extend our sincere apologies to you and your family”, hospital general manager Catherine Donohue said.
The hospital also offered sincere condolences to Mrs Best and the extended family.
Outside the Four Courts, Mr Best’s daughter, Sharon, said on behalf of the family that the settlement and apology were bittersweet, and it had been a very tough five years since his death.
“We now hope that every hospital in Ireland introduces this protocol for CVC removal and that it is continuously assessed so that nobody ever has to go through what we have had to go through”, she said.
She said the CVC line removal “sadly triggered” her father’s death and while the family had got an apology from the hospital it was still very painful for them and they now have to learn to move on.
Her father, she said, was a generous, kind and warm-hearted man who “hadn’t a bad bone in his body.”
Breaking down in tears, she added: “He was coming home that day, and he never came home.”
Mr Best’s wife, Geraldine Best, of Childers Heights, Ballina, Co Mayo, had sued the HSE over the death of her husband at Mayo University Hospital, Castlebar, on January 12th, 2019, and also for mental distress.
Mr Best, who had chronic lung disease, experienced breathing difficulties on December 29th, 2018, and he was brought to Mayo University Hospital. Investigations were carried out, including X-rays, and he was discharged.
However, the next day he was told that the X-rays showed an area of clinical suspicion and further imaging was required.
On January 1st, 2019, Mr Best became very breathless. He attended the hospital in the early hours where a CT scan was performed, and he was admitted.
His condition deteriorated when he developed respiratory failure in association with rapid atrial fibrillation.
Mr Best was transferred to a critical care unit at the hospital and a CVC line was put in his neck as part of his treatment.
By January 4th, his condition had improved to the extent that it was considered that he was well enough to be discharged to a ward.
On January 8th, 2019, the CVC line in his neck was removed, and it is claimed that an air bubble in his vein was allowed to occur and he immediately collapsed.
It was claimed he suffered a catastrophic neurological injury which ultimately and tragically led to his death four days later on January 12th, 2019.
It was also claimed Mrs Best suffered nervous shock as a result of witnessing her husband in the hospital in a highly agitated distressed and terrified state between January 8 and his death on January 12th 2019.
In the proceedings it was claimed there was a failure to remove the CVC line from his neck safely and in accordance with approved accepted or established procedures.
It was also claimed an air bubble was allowed to occur in his blood circulatory system which embolised in his brain and caused him to suffer a catastrophic neurological injury which ultimately led to his death.
There was, it was further claimed, a failure to remove the CVC line from his neck while Mr Best was lying down.
The details of the settlement are confidential and the case was before the court for the division of the statutory mental distress €35,000 solatium payment.
Noting the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey extended his deepest sympathy to Mrs Best and the extended family.
