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Swine flu FAI told virus 'was missed by doctor' | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A fatal accident inquiry into a Scottish swine flu death has heard the victim told his family his GP had diagnosed him with seasonal flu. | |
Bill Anderson, 53, from Fife, was the first Scot to die who was not suffering from a pre-existing health condition. | Bill Anderson, 53, from Fife, was the first Scot to die who was not suffering from a pre-existing health condition. |
His wife Linda told the inquiry at Dunfermline Sheriff Court he was sent to hospital by NHS 24 in September 2009 but was diagnosed with seasonal flu. | |
But Mr Anderson's doctor told the FAI he had diagnosed swine flu. | |
Mr Anderson, a former RAF medic from Kirkcaldy, died four days later. | |
He fell ill on 4 September 2009 shortly after returning from Tenerife with his wife. | |
The next day he called NHS 24 who advised him to see a doctor in Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital. | The next day he called NHS 24 who advised him to see a doctor in Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital. |
Mr Anderson was given a prescription and spent the next few days in bed but his condition worsened. | Mr Anderson was given a prescription and spent the next few days in bed but his condition worsened. |
His daughter called 999 and he was taken to the Victoria and then transferred to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline where he later died. | His daughter called 999 and he was taken to the Victoria and then transferred to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline where he later died. |
Speaking at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Mrs Anderson said her husband called NHS 24 because he thought he had symptoms of swine flu and was told to go to hospital. | |
She said: "He saw an out of hours doctor at 6pm. He came back quite the thing and said 'I'm really pleased, it's just flu'. | |
"He thought, well, the doctors know best, so it must just be the flu. | |
"They gave him antibiotics and anti-sickness tablets and said to keep drinking plenty and to rest in bed." | |
Mrs Anderson, 58, said her husband continued to feel ill and she urged him to go back to the doctor, but he said he wanted to give the antibiotics a chance. | |
She said: "He looked ghastly and was staggering, suffering from sickness and diarrhoea. | |
'I'm going to die' | |
"His breathing worsened on the Saturday. I could hear rattling in his chest when I was in bed beside him - it was a horrible noise." | |
She said her husband "went downhill" until in the early hours of the morning he told her: "I need to go back to hospital. I think I've had a stroke. I think I'm going to die." | |
Mrs Anderson said: "I started to get up and pull his clothes on and he fell back on my arm and fell unconscious. He never regained consciousness." | |
Mr Anderson was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with the H1N1 strain of swine flu. | |
Asked by procurator fiscal Brian Robertson what she would think if the GP, Dr John Barron, had in fact noted swine flu in his medical notes, she said: "He should have told my husband, because he wouldn't have come back to his daughter who was eight months pregnant." | |
Cross examined by advocate Isabella McKerrow, representing the Anderson family, Mrs Anderson was asked if there was any reason her husband would have kept it a secret from her if Dr Barron had told him it was swine flu. | |
She said: "He was relieved he only had the flu. There was no reason he would lie to me." | |
Dr Barron, giving evidence, said he had encountered hundreds of patients with swine flu in the months surrounding Mr Anderson's death. | |
The locum GP, who worked for NHS Fife, said he could not remember meeting Mr Anderson, but said he was referred to the Victoria Infirmary by NHS 24's dedicated flu-line and his computerised medical notes indicated he had diagnosed swine flu. | |
He said he could think of no reason why he would not have told Mr Anderson his diagnosis. | |
He said he was told of Mr Anderson's death the following month when police visited him, and he was "shocked". | |
Mr Robertson asked: "You put down the diagnosis as probable H1N1 - did you tell him?" | |
Dr Barron replied: "Yes I did. I put down the diagnosis - I normally tell people what that diagnosis is." | |
He said he had ruled out prescribing Tamiflu as Mr Anderson had been suffering symptoms for more than 48 hours. | |
The court had earlier heard from pathologist Dr Ibrahim Nawroz, who had conducted a post-mortem examination on Mr Anderson, who said he had died from swine flu, which caused adult respiratory distress syndrome, affecting his lungs. | |
He added there were no other contributory factors. | |
The inquiry, before Sheriff Craig McSherry, continues. |
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