"PUKE MISADVENTURE"

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 24, 29 January 1934, Page 10

"PUKE MISADVENTURE"

DEATH IN DENTAL ROOMS (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) TAUMAEUNUI, This Day. At an inquest concerning the death of Jessie Isabel Flett, aged 15, who collapsed and died on Friday when recovering from an anaesthetic after having had her teeth extracted, G. H. Burtenshatv, the dentist, said in evidence that after the extraction of the teeth the patient showed a good recovery, and Dr.' W. E. Fisher, who administered tho,anaesthetic, left, the dental, rooms. About eight minutes after the doctor left; the deceased's breathing weakened, and she showed signs of collapse. The usual restorative measures were applied, and the doctor was recalled. He arrived in a few minutes, but though artificial respiration was carried on for an hour, the girl failed to recover. Dr. Fisher said he examined the girl carefully before the anaesthetic was administered, and she appeared well and unperturbed. She took the anaesthetic well, and was recovering well when he- left to attend another case. Dr. E. H. Howard, and Dr. Anthony Bradford said a post-mortem examination revealed' that tho deceased had :i definite enlargement of the thynms gland, a, condition, which in a girl of her age, could not possibly have boon determined by an external examination. In the case of a young adult in this condition there was always the danger of sudden death under an anaesthetic. . ' The Coroner (Mr. A. S. Laird) returned a verdict of death by pure misadventure, the- death being duo' to heart failure associated with the presence of an enlarged thymus gland. The doctor and dentist concerned, he said, had taken every care and precaution.