header-logo header-logo

04 March 2010 / Barbara Hewson
Issue: 7407 / Categories: Opinion , Health & safety , Professional negligence
printer mail-detail

A lamentable situation

The inquest into the death of David Gray, who died in February last year after a visiting locum GP, Dr Ubani, gave him a lethal overdose of Diamorphine, attracted national publicity. William Morris, the coroner for North and East Cambridgeshire, sat without a jury and did not mince words in his summing up last month.

According to expert evidence given to the coroner, Dr Ubani had administered a dose ten times higher than the appropriate dose for Mr Gray’s condition (renal colic). The coroner said: “It is clear to me that Dr Ubani in his dealings with patients over that fateful weekend was incompetent. And he went on: “How was it that a doctor, who did not obtain his qualifications in this country, whose first language was not English, who was probably fatigued, who had received a less than adequate induction...came to be treating patients in Cambridgeshire, and treating at least some of them incompetently? How was this lamentable situation reached?”

He found that Dr Ubani, who had flown into England for the first time only the day before, committed a “gross error.” He

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
back-to-top-scroll