Investigation into cancer patient deaths

2 August 2007

Two cancer patients died hours after being given an overdose of medication, it emerged today.

Paul Richards, 35, and Baljit Singh Sunner, 36, reportedly died on the oncology ward at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital within hours of each other, after allegedly being given five times the normal dose of pain medication.

Timothy Deeming a specialist clinical negligence lawyer at law firm Irwin Mitchell said:

"All hospitals owe a duty of care to their patients. If these early reports are true this certainly did not happen in this case.

"A wide ranging review and investigation is needed to determine whether Mr Richards and Mr Sunner were provided with the correct medical treatment and an adequate standard of care.

"If this level of pain medication was given then internal procedures need to be carefully reviewed and scrutinised to not only ensure that this does not happen again, but to fully understand how something like this could happen.

"The Trust has promised, and would seem to have instigated, an early detailed investigation into these events, but it has to be open and wide ranging so that the important questions raised by the families can be answered."