Grieving parents who claim their disabled son died prematurely after being discharged from hospital with the wrong form of treatment have vowed to press ahead with a judicial review.
Jay and Louise Patel said they will appeal against the decision of the coroner who ruled their son Balram died of natural causes after an inquest at London Inner South Coroner’s Court in Southwark on Monday (June 23).
Jay, who called the findings a “whitewash”, claimed: “There was nothing natural about the way my son died. Balram died because of a series of clear, documented, and avoidable clinical failures.”
The Barnet family claim their son died in August 2023 as a result of being discharged from St Thomas’s Hospital in Lambeth with oral diuretics when he feels he should have been given an intravenous treatment.
They also claim they were never told of their son’s heart condition turning terminal and thought he had been discharged to receive palliative care for his Stage 4 liver cancer.
Jay and Louise further claim their plea for a second medical opinion on Balram’s treatment was ignored by consultant cardiologists at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Yaso Emmanuel, Consultant Cardiologist at the trust who treated Balram, said at the inquest into his death that she did not recall the request being made.
Jay added: “This verdict may mark the end of the inquest – but it is only the beginning of our fight for truth, justice, and change.”
Louise said: “It’s disgusting really. It feels like they’re playing God. The doctors decided when he should die. They didn’t give him a last chance, even if it was a half an hour or a day more. He should have been given a chance. He was a fighter all his life.”
Coroner Julian Morris ruled Balram, 30, died from complications related to his heart condition and from liver cancer. He said Balram was born without a right side to his heart and underwent multiple operations over the years to insert pulmonary and abdominal shunts to help with flow of fluid in his body.
He had multiple disabilities and was developmentally delayed, with Guy’s and St Thomas’s trust treating him throughout his life.
The coroner said in June and July 2023, Balram had been diagnosed with end-stage heart failure and that no further surgical or medical options were available other than continuing the treatment of diuretics, which helps regulate fluid. Balram’s heart condition meant his body could not do this alone.
In July 2023, Balram was also diagnosed with terminal liver cancer for which “there was no available surgical, local or medical treatment”, the coroner’s report stated.
On August 3, 2023, Balram was discharged with oral diuretics after IV treatment was not available in the family’s borough of Barnet. A few days later the hospital was contacted and advised the family to increase Balram’s medication after he presented with increased fluid retention.
A day before his death, Balram was visited at home by the palliative care team and readmitted to hospital. The 30-year-old was given diuretics intravenously which alleviated his symptoms and he was later transferred to a ward.
In the early hours of August 9, Balram collapsed. He received CPR for 30 minutes before he was pronounced dead. Balram had been admitted to St Thomas’s with a raised infection rate and a build-up of fluids.
His family requested he be transferred home after the hospital was hit with an outbreak of Covid-19. Attempts were made to arrange IV treatment at the Patel’s home in Barnet but this later proved not possible to do.
At the inquest, Dr Morris said discharging Balram with oral diuretics had been a “reasonable” step to take but felt consultants had failed to clearly communicate the state of his condition to the family.
He said Balram’s double terminal diagnosis meant his death was “inevitable” but he was satisfied medical staff did all they could to manage his condition.
Since Balram’s death, Jay set up Patients’ Lives Matter, a group that campaigns for a legal right to a second professional opinion, as well as for an NHS independent complaints investigator.
A spokesperson for Guy’s and St Thomas’s said: “As set out in his narrative conclusion, the coroner found Balram was terminally ill and died from these conditions. He had complex health needs and had been under our care throughout his life, during which our teams did everything they reasonably could for him. We again extend our deepest sympathies to Balram’s family.”
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