Louise Harvey breast surgery death 'unanswered questions'
- Published
Louise Harvey died almost three weeks after a breast enlargement operation in London
The family of a woman who died after breast surgery says her inquest has left unanswered questions.
Louise Harvey, 36, from Norwich, died on 5 July 2018 from a blood clot almost three weeks after the operation.
A five-day hearing concluded that delayed and forgotten doses of blood thinners did not cause her death.
A statement said the family was "no further forward" in understanding why Louise was not given all medication before being sent home.
"The coroner, though, found that on the evidence such treatment, had it been given, would not have made a difference," the statement added.
"We hope that wider lessons can be learned to raise awareness and improvements for other patients."
Ms Harvey should have been given blood thinners four hours after the operation
Ms Harvey, a beauty therapist, had breast enlargement surgery and a tummy tuck in an operation lasting more than three hours at the Transform Cosmetic Surgery clinic in London on 17 June.
Norfolk area coroner Yvonne Blake heard she was given a blood thinner eight hours late and a second dose was prescribed but not given.
In her narrative conclusion, she said Ms Harvey was sent home with advice sheets and medication two days later.
No concerns were reported at an appointment on 26 June, but on 3 July she collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest.
She had a further cardiac arrest on 5 July and died after one hour of resuscitation, Mrs Blake said.
Both her plastic surgeon and anaesthetist said they had treated Ms Harvey as a high-risk patient but a form mentioning a family history of blood clots had not been seen by the surgeon until after her death.
The coroner said she was would write to a company which has since acquired part of Transform to alert it to issues raised at the inquest.
- Published29 October 2019
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