The family of a man who recovered on Easter Sunday after he was declared dead by medical staff is considering legal action against the Mater hospital in Dublin, where the incident occurred.
Relatives of Freddie Maguire (44), North Strand, Dublin, have engaged a solicitor to correspond with the Mater, the hospital confirmed yesterday. Mr Maguire, who has Down Syndrome, is cared for by his family.
An internal hospital report into the April 1st incident, which was first reported by The Irish Timeson April 26th, has exonerated the staff who said Mr Maguire was dead, according to a hospital spokesman.
The report said that Mr Maguire's recovery was a case of the rare Lazarus syndrome, which describes survival after failed resuscitation.
Between 1982 and 2001 there were at least 24 incidents of Lazarus syndrome, according to articles in the Anesthesia & Analgesiamedical journal.
The article says most cases of Lazarus syndrome occur within 10 minutes of apparent death and may be more widespread than figures suggest because some doctors, fearing criticism, do not report that they declared the death of a living patient.
The Mater opened an investigation into the incident to try to determine whether staff followed all proper procedures. Staff did everything by the book, the report concluded.
The internal Mater report said Mr Maguire was being treated in the hospital on Easter Sunday when he suffered a cardiac arrest. Staff attempted to resuscitate him but ceased their efforts when he showed no vital life signs. The report also said that Mr Maguire's apparent death was confirmed by monitoring equipment which displayed no vital signs.
"It was beyond physical observations - there was machinery involved," said a hospital source.
Mr Maguire was declared dead and his family were informed, but when mortuary staff came to collect his body from the hospital ward it was apparent that he was alive.
Reports that he was about to be put in the mortuary freezer were incorrect, said a hospital spokesman.