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Dublin: 11 °C Thursday 20 June, 2013

Cork GP died after brain surgery and migraine misdiagnosis

Forty-year-old Dr Niamh Long died after complications during brain surgery to treat a serious haemorrhage which was initially diagnosed as migraine.

Image: ernstl via Creative Commons

AN INQUEST into the death of a Co Cork GP who died after undergoing surgery for a brain haemorrhage has heard that one of the doctors who treated her accepts that they made a wrong decision during her treatment, the Examiner reports.

Mother-of-three Dr Niamh Long, 40, was brought to Cork University Hospital by ambulance on 6 January 2011 suffering a severe headache. After examining and observing her, Dr Gergely Halasz diagnosed migraine and prescribed medication for that before discharging her.

Halasz acknowledged that the original assessment diagnosing migraine was incorrect. The Independent reports that he told the inquest that Long’s symptoms did not warrant a CT scan.

Long returned to the emergency department the next day amid growing concerns about her condition. A CT scan showed she had suffered a large brain haemorrhage and had a blood blister aneurysm, RTÉ reports. Operating on Long, consultant neurosurgeon Charlie Marks attempted to place a clip on the aneurysm, but the clip cut an artery. Marks attempted to repair the damage but was unsuccessful.

He told the inquest his decision to try the clip was “probably wrong” and was sorry not to have pursued an alternative course of action.

Long died on 12 January. The inquest jury returned a verdict of death by medical misadventure.

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Comments (11 Comments)

  • Paul, you can’t start locking up Doctors, if we did we’d have very few Doctors left. It’s a very difficult profession, do you really think they take this lightly?

  • The mistake of the ED doctor is more significant because it delayed the diagnosis. Nonetheless the outcome
    Might be the same for neurosurgeon
    The medical profession is not mathematics and 2 2 is not always 4.
    I think the neurosurgeon would have done his best but he just couldn’t
    do it. There is always a point of no return in critical sickness and it happened here.
    I feel strongly for her and her children
    Aziz

  • I can’t believe that some people here on this thread think the doctors are not upset by the outcome for this patient, another doctor! They made a mistake, that’s it, it happens, I know it shouldn’t, but they are human, like you and me. Let’s face it who on earth would want to see someone die by their hand, unless they are a murderer. Get real.

  • Well said sean

  • If I made a mistake in my job that cost a person their life I would be banged up in jail. What makes these people different ? Why are certain professions above the law?

    • Because we deal with potential deaths every day of every week. The best we can hope for AS HUMANS is to learn from our mistakes so that we can minimise fatalities. Do you honestly think we take such a cavalier attitude to life that this sort of thing happens regularly? The doctor in the ED may have saved 10 lives through good judgement that day before this happened. Mistakes are mistakes, and my thoughts are with the family.

    • Dr Marks saved my mother’s life actually ..

  • Sean and mike I don’t doubt what you do isn’t hard & I’m sure you do a good job. I understand that somethings are out of your control & that every body reacts differently to treatment. What worries me is that if you have your own Gp practice then you should be more vigilant of each patient as your good name is tied to it. I have seen too often certain gps ignore a symptom that could lead to something more serious. I don’t tar all with one brush.it wasn’t a mistake by a trainee that’s all I’m saying.

    • I agree with you, we should be held to greater account but the generation of doctors currently produced are encouraged to peer review. I know how the fitness to practice committees work, we do try hard to self-regulate and instances such as Drogheda and Neary only make us try harder. The stereotype of the medicine old boys club is dying, if not dead already, and the younger generations wouldn’t protect their peers unless warranted.

  • all the sorries in the world won’t bring that young mother of 3 back,DISGRACEFUL! made all the worse by the double incompetence.are there ANY consequences for these two?