Mum died after hospital staff made paracetamol mistake as coroner rejects 'natural causes'
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A mum who weighed just six stone was given "staggered overdoses" of paracetamol by hospital staff - and died from sepsis and multi-organ failure days later. Mum-of-two Laura Higginson, from Widnes, Cheshire, was admitted to Whiston Hospital with suspected pneumonia on April 5 2017, and was given the staggered overdoses of paracetamol across a number of days before medics realised their mistake. A month-long inquest heard how the 30-year-old, who was 5ft1 inches tall and weighed 6st, was given doses too high for a woman of her size.
The evidence was unable to determine that the overdoses contributed to Laura's death from sepsis on April 19, Coroner Simon Holder said. Handing down a narrative conclusion, he said: "On the evidence I have heard, from April 5 to April 7 Laura Higginson was administered excess staggered doses of paracetamol while a patient at Whiston Hospital. It has not been proven, on the balance of probabilities, that this contributed to her death days later.".
Laura arrived at the hospital on April 5 and she given three 1g doses of paracetamol through an intravenous tube. The same doses were adminstered on April 6, and on April 7 she was given a final 500mg dose before medics realised they had made a mistake and administered an antidote, the Echo reports.
On April 7, Laura's condition rapidly deteriorated and she was rushed into ICU, where she was placed in an induced coma the following day. Her condition continued to worsen, and on April 18 her husband Anthony and children Steven, nine, and Evelyn, seven, were called to the hospital to say their goodbyes. She died the following day on April 19 2017, with her cause of death being multi-organ failure with sepsis, cirrhosis and pancreatitis.
