A medical practitioner has been cleared of allegations that he failed to carry out a proper examination on a patient who died about an hour later.
The Medical Council fitness to practise committee also found allegations were not proven that Dr Sandor Endredi of Dublin 15 had failed to take the patient’s medical history adequately.
However, the committee found Dr Endredi had failed to make an adequate record of his consultation with the patient. But it said it found this did not substantiate a charge of poor professional performance.
In a two-day hearing that concluded yesterday, the committee heard Anthony Geraghty (32) was taking benzodiazepines, had a 15-pint-per-night alcohol habit and was on prescription methadone.
Collapse
The committee also heard Mr Geraghty had collapsed in 2003, had been treated in the Mater hospital’s coronary unit and had been put on a course of beta blockers that had ended in 2008.
On October 20th, 2009, when Mr Geraghty had been off alcohol about 72 hours, he became ill and his family called an out-of-hours medical service. Dr Endredi told the hearing the call had been taken by a triage nurse at two minutes past midnight and it had lasted 11 minutes.
Medical history
A detailed medical history had been taken by the nurse and this had been made available to him before he saw Mr Geraghty for a 20-minute clinical session that had started at 0:47 am.
He said Mr Geraghty was pale, trembling and anxious, complaining of a tightness in his chest. His hands were shaking.
He said he had asked Mr Geraghty about previous medical conditions, particularly relating to the use of beta blockers, but Mr Geraghty had told him he had had no particular heart problems.
He had diagnosed Mr Geraghty as having an upper airway infection, obesity, a fast heartbeat and alcohol withdrawal symptoms and sent him home. About an hour later Mr Geraghty collapsed and was taken to the Mater hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Coronary consultant Dr Hugh McCann told the committee Mr Geraghty’s death had been like an “electrical storm” in the heart, which could have been totally separate to the other issues with which he had presented.
