Death by misadventure finding over post-cataract death; drug reaction

After an inquest held on 9 and 10 July, Coroner Hugh Mulligan found the cause of death being consistent with anaphylaxis in a woman with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and physa, in the following circumstances:That Mrs Whiteford was given a single 250 mg tablet of Diamox [a non- antibiotic sulphonamide commonly used by ophthalmologists to reduce intraocular pressure] despite her being known to be allergic to Sulphas (an abbreviation for a group of medications known as sulphonamides), on the written post-operative instruction of the operating surgeon, Dr Andrew Stewart.Coroner Dominic Mulligan found that at the time of the operation Mrs Whiteford was in very poor health; she suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (physa) and undiagnosed, but severe heart disease; her prognosis was very poor and it was expected, on the basis of her diagnosed physa, she would not live for more than a year after the eye operation.Her significant breathing difficulties and was rendered largely immobile and housebound because of her ill-health and that as a consequence of her ill-health, lack of mobility and very poor eyesight there was very little Mrs Whiteford could do to occupy her time. She normally enjoyed doing crafts and watching movies. The surgery was meant to restore her ability to enjoy those small pleasures.The coroner found that Dr Stewart began practising medicine in 1967 and ophthalmology in 1974; in 1975 he performed the first lens implantation following cataract surgery in Western Australia; he was elected president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists in 2006; for approximately 25 years he undertook consultations and surgery on a pro bono basis; and has retired from performing surgery.