Clinical negligence partner Olive Lewin has successfully settled a claim for £500,000 on behalf of the family of Theo Osgerby who died in May 2005 after suffering a seizure.
Theo Osgerby was 29 at the time of his death. He was taking Citalopram, an anti-depressant. Mr Osgerby wanted to give up smoking and visited his GP to discuss this on 21 April 2005. His GP prescribed 150mg Zyban to be taken twice a day.
On the morning of the 7th May 2005 Mr Osgerby woke to find that a rash had developed, which began to spread over his stomach, arms and legs. He attended the NHS walk-in clinic at New Cross where he was advised that he had an allergic reaction. The clinic recommended an oral anti-histamine and said that if his condition had not improved in 24 hours he should see an out of hours GP.
By 9th May 2005 the rash had spread further and was causing him a great deal of discomfort especially on his feet and behind his knees so he returned to his GP where he was seen by a locum GP who advised Mr Osgerby that his symptoms were due to an upper respiratory tract infection. The locum prescribed him 4mg Piriton (another anti-histamine) to be taken three times a day. On the morning of 16th May 2005 Mr Osgerby developed flu-like symptoms, he had a high temperature and looked pale.
The following day Mr Osgerby went to work but felt increasingly unwell and returned home at lunchtime and went to bed. At 7.30 his 10 year old daughter went to wake him and found him dead in bed after suffering a seizure.
Mr Osgerby’s widow sued two GPs over the treatment given to her husband. Zyban should not have been prescribed to Mr Osgerby because he was taking Citalopram, the combination of the two drugs reduces the seizure threshold. The two doctors concerned admitted breach of duty and negligence and compensation of £500,000 has been paid to Mr Osgerby’s family.
For more information please contact Olive Lewin on 020 7650 1200.
Information was correct at time of publishing. See terms and conditions for further details.