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22/09/2008
Cancer Patient Dies After Medical Trial
A cancer patient has died after being given an overdose during a drugs trial at the university College London Hospital (UCLH), an inquest has heard.
Gary Foster, 27, was repeatedly given twice the amount of chemotherapy drugs he should have been prescribed, the hospital said.
Mr Foster, a graphic designer from Waltham Abbey, Essex, was due to get married this month.
The University College London Hospitals NHS Trust offered the 27-year-old - who had advanced testicular cancer - a place on a drugs trial, testing different combinations of drugs.
A second man who also took part in the trial was affected by the mistake, but survived.
It is understood UCLH's computer system was to blame for an error in the set-up of the trial, leading to the man's death.
A statement released from the hospital said: "He was treated intensively and despite an initial improvement in his condition, died as a result of drug toxicity.
"The measures introduced to address the lessons the trust has learnt include: a second separate check by senior pharmacy staff in collaboration with the supervising consultants of all protocols on the trust's electronic chemotherapy prescribing system and additional checks by nurses of the chemotherapy toxicity for every patient before repeated doses are given."
A coroner ruled Mr Foster had died of lung damage caused by the overdose.
(JM)
Gary Foster, 27, was repeatedly given twice the amount of chemotherapy drugs he should have been prescribed, the hospital said.
Mr Foster, a graphic designer from Waltham Abbey, Essex, was due to get married this month.
The University College London Hospitals NHS Trust offered the 27-year-old - who had advanced testicular cancer - a place on a drugs trial, testing different combinations of drugs.
A second man who also took part in the trial was affected by the mistake, but survived.
It is understood UCLH's computer system was to blame for an error in the set-up of the trial, leading to the man's death.
A statement released from the hospital said: "He was treated intensively and despite an initial improvement in his condition, died as a result of drug toxicity.
"The measures introduced to address the lessons the trust has learnt include: a second separate check by senior pharmacy staff in collaboration with the supervising consultants of all protocols on the trust's electronic chemotherapy prescribing system and additional checks by nurses of the chemotherapy toxicity for every patient before repeated doses are given."
A coroner ruled Mr Foster had died of lung damage caused by the overdose.
(JM)
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