Death of RP nurse: Exec vows to help in case vs UK hospital

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government on Wednesday vowed to pursue the case of a Filipina nurse who died in the United Kingdom when prescribed with a wrong medication after she gave birth in 2004. Esteban Conejos Jr., undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, said in a press briefing that Philippine embassy officials in the UK will facilitate the filing of a negligence case against the doctors and nurses of a London hospital. The Filipina nurse, who was unidentified during the briefing, was prescribed with a wrong medication after she gave birth to a son in 2004. However, wire reports have identified the victim as Mayra Cabrera, a 30-year old theater nurse, who gave birth to her son Zac at the Great Western Hospital. The victim's 38-year-old husband, who is facing deportation, is pursuing a civil claim for damages against the hospital. “The British coroners said that she died of possible allergic reaction to a medicine prescribed by the doctors. We will help the family file a case for negligence. We are making representations with London authorities for a full inquest of the case," said Conejos. The foreign affairs department said that the UK government has pledged to provide automatic support and legal assistance to the family of the victim should they decide to pursue the medical malpractice case. According to reports reaching the DFA, an epidural drug was mistakenly fed into her arm via an intravenous drip, causing the victim to suffer a heart attack leading to her instantaneous death. The DFA did not confirm reports that a potent epidural anesthetic called Bupivacaine which should have been directly fed into her spinal cord was fed through her veins. A BBC News report said that the victim's husband was originally told that she died from amniotic fluid embolism, a condition wherein the fluid surrounding the fetus inside the mother enters the bloodstream, but he later learned that his wife died because of the wrongly-administered epidural. The hospital had admitted liability but following a police investigation, no one was charged. - GMANews.TV