Published: Tuesday, 26th August, 2008 10:30
'We may have to exhume my brother's body'
By Exclusive by Mike Farrell
Print Article
George was a patient at the Vale of Leven Hospital
A FAMILY is considering whether to exhume a dead man’s body to confirm conclusively if he had C-diff or not.
George Donoghue, 54, passed away in the Vale on the same day the health board announced that a 17th C-diff patient had died there.
And George’s younger brother Stephen insists he was told by a nurse that his brother had C-diff.
However, last week the family were informed in a letter from the Vale's chief operating officer Robert Calderwood that George never had the superbug.
No postmortem was carried out on George’s body when he died in June, which means the family is now faced with the dilemma of whether to seek his exhumation to get a definitive answer.
Stephen told the Reporter: “This has got to the point where as a family, we are really looking at doing anything to find out the truth.
“Exhuming the body is a drastic thing to be considering, but if it will allow us to move on from this, then it might have to be done.”
A GGC spokeswoman said: “At no time during his admissions to either the Royal Alexandra Hospital or the Vale of Leven Hospital did this patient have C-diff.
“Unfortunately, the family have associated a statement made by the Infection Control Team, which was in relation to another patient who had died at the Vale of Leven Hospital, with the death of their relative.”
For the full story see this week's Reporter, in shops now.
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