Shaun Dobinson Died In 2016 While In New York City

The family of an electrical engineer, who died while on a dream holiday to New York City in 2016, have spoken out following an inquest into his death.

Shaun Dobinson, 21 from Washington, died on 3 June, 2016, while visiting the American city. Shaun was admitted to hospital and suffered multiple cardiac arrests. The cause of death was found to be diabetic ketoacidosis leading to heart failure. 

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a condition caused when the body runs out of insulin.

A three-day inquest into Shaun’s death was held at Sunderland Coroner’s Court this week where Senior Coroner, Derek Winter, recorded a narrative verdict. Mr Winter found that Shaun died of natural causes contributed to by neglect. 

Mr Winter also made a Regulation 28 Report, also called a Prevention of Future Death Order, in relation to concerns he had regarding the medical management provided by Shaun’s General Practitioner, Dr Nandu Bhatt.

Following Shaun’s death, his mother Julie instructed specialist medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to support them through the inquest.

Michael Scobie, the solicitor at Irwin Mitchell’s Newcastle office who is representing the family, said: 

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“Julie and the rest of the family are understandably devastated and angered by the needless loss of Shaun’s life.

“This inquest has highlighted serious issues in relation to the care afforded to Shaun by his GP, and we would urge healthcare professionals to identify the lessons that need to be learned to ensure this kind of tragedy is not repeated in the future.” Michael Scobie - Solicitor

The inquest heard that in the months leading up to his trip to New York, Shaun had felt dehydrated for prolonged periods. With a family history of diabetes, he sought medical attention to ensure he was in good-health.

On 28 April, 2016, Shaun went to his GP surgery for an appointment with Dr Bhatt to discuss the symptoms he was suffering from. The following day, Shaun underwent a blood test which showed that he had a raised fasting blood glucose level. 

These results were reviewed by Dr Bhatt on 3 May 2016, who planned to review them with Shaun in person. But over two weeks later, having not been contacted by the surgery, Shaun made another appointment with Dr Bhatt himself. This was on 13 May 2016. Dr Bhatt prescribed metformin, a medication which is used to treat Type 2 diabetes and planned for referral to the diabetic clinic. 

The inquest heard that Shaun actually had the more serious Type 1 diabetes which required urgent review and treatment with insulin. Dr Bhatt would have known this if he had asked Shaun to do a urine test. Tragically, instead of receiving an urgent appointment Shaun was booked in at the diabetic clinic on 23 June 2016, almost 6 weeks later.

Unaware of the potential seriousness of his condition, Shaun travelled to New York City on 26 May 2016. Several days into the trip Shaun started to become increasingly unwell.  He was rushed to hospital on 2 June 2016 and sadly died the following day.

Shaun’s mother Julie, said: “The whole family remains completely devastated regarding Shaun’s death and we all miss him daily. He didn’t deserve what happened.

“It has been very difficult to relive the events again during the inquest. It is awful to think how he suffered as a result of issues which, we will always believe, should simply never have happened.

“While nothing will ever bring Shaun back, we are committed to honouring his memory and urge all medical professionals to take steps to ensure no other family endures this kind of nightmare in the future.”

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