Woman dies after 44 hours in crowded A&E following Turkey weight loss surgery

Erin Dennis, 26, collapsed at home shortly after spending 43 hours and 38 minutes in the emergency department of Tallaght University Hospital in Dublin and died of a blood clot

A woman who had weight loss surgery in Turkey died of a blood clot after she spent nearly two days sitting in an overcrowded emergency department, an inquest was told.

Erin Dennis, 26, collapsed at home shortly after she left Tallaght University Hospital (TUH). Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard how she had spent 43 hours and 38 minutes in the emergency department, where kidney stones were diagnosed as the cause of her abdominal pain.

Her mother, Theresa Dixon, broke down in tears as she told how her daughter had complained about dizziness, blurred vision and her left eye “turning in” which first led to her being admitted to TUH on January 23, 2022, the Irish Mirror reported. She said: “She was my breath. My only child who came from my body. I have failed her because it was my job to protect her.”

The inquest heard patients should be triaged within 15 minutes, but it was four hours and 29 minutes before Ms Dennis was seen when she arrived in the hospital on February 28, 2022. Once triaged, Ms Dennis’ condition meant she should have been examined by a doctor within one hour. However it was almost 11 hours before that happened and was a further six and a half hours before the results of a CT scan became available.

Ms Dennis chose to have the kidney stones diagnosed by the scan managed conservatively and left TUH shortly after 3.30pm on March 2, 2022. She collapsed outside her home around 5pm and was in cardiac arrest as she arrived back at the hospital at 5.48pm. Efforts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at 7.03pm

The inquest heard Ms Dennis decided to travel to Turkey in November 2021 for gastric sleeve surgery after researching the topic and was taking multivitamins after the operation. Consultant neurologist at TUH, Allan McCarthy, said medical records showed she had been vomiting five or six times a day for an eight-week period when she was admitted to the hospital in January 2022. Dr McCarthy said the patient had been diagnosed with Wernicke encephalopathy – a brain disorder caused by the lack of vitamin B1.

Dr McCarthy said doctors had believed the vomiting was due to the effect of the gastric sleeve surgery as there was “no other obvious cause.” The inquest heard that the fracture to the deceased’s left ankle was linked to a problem with her gait which may have been due to her lack of vitamin B1.

Dr McCarthy also noted there was no record of Ms Dennis taking any anti-blood clotting medication after the surgery in Turkey. Proceedings were told how doctors at TUH did not consider Ms Dennis at risk of blood clots when she attended an outpatient clinic to review her ankle on March 1, 2022 as she was six weeks after surgery at that stage and her leg appeared normal. Medical records showed the deceased had never complained at any stage of pains in her leg.

The coroner, Clare Keane, recorded a narrative verdict based on “very complex” evidence relating to several issues regarding the deceased’s health in various periods before her death. Dr Keane confirmed the cause of death was a pulmonary embolism due to deep vein thrombosis of an artery in the deceased’s left leg.

Offering her sympathy to Ms Dennis’ family, Dr Keane said Erin had great hope the surgery she had undergone in Turkey would be “life-changing.” She added: “The tragic outcome could not be foreseen.”