FATAL OPERATION

Hokitika Guardian, 29 August 1930, Page 5

FATAL OPERATION

DUE TO NURSES MISTAKE. WRONG ANAESTHETIC GIVEN. (By Telegraph—Press Association). CHRISTCHURCH, August 29. At an inquest yesterday into the death of Violet Monica Salmond, 37, head mistress of Craighead Diocesan School Timaru, while a. patient in St. George Hospital, the Coroner returned a verdict that death was caused by alkaloidal poisoning, due to cocaine which was used by mistake, instead of neo cocaine, injected round the tonsils of deceased, prior to an operation for removal. No blame is attachable to the operating surgeon. A nurse gave evidence that she failed to realise that the operating surgeon Dr T. A. MoGibbon wanted neo cocaine, and when he asked for the anaesthetic in the syringe, she put cocaine and'adrenalin in it and handed the syringe to the Doctor who started injecting. On the bottle was a label “for local application, and not for injection.” Witness did' not read the label properly or she should have known not to use it.

Dr, McGibbon gave evidence “The only explanation I can give is that tne nurse was flurried, and did not understand that the cocaine adrenalin mixture was not used for injections, I took it for granted that she would know what-1 wanted, and I did not specify neo cocaine.”

APPEAL COURT

(Bv Telegraph—Press Association).

WELLINGTON, Aug. 29,

In the case of Aspro Ltd. v. the Commissioner of Taxes, judgment in favour of the respondent Commissioner was delivered by the Court of Appeal. Mr Justice Herdman in his judgment, held the appellant company had not discharged the onus on it of proving that the directors’ fees in question were exclusively suspended in producing an asssesable income. He concluded: “It was said in argument that if the Commissioner of Taxes is to be allowed to' question allowances made by shareholders to directors, it will mean that he and not the shareholders of private companies, will decide in every case what is to be allowed. •“ “The answer to that is that each case must he decided in a list of its own facts and thate' a reasonable sum will never be questioned.” Mr Justice Blair held that In his opinion the facts of tho case were certainly sufficient to cast upon the Company the onus of showing that the alleged resolution for payment of directors’ fees was a valid and genuine one, and that no attempt had been made to discharge that onus accordingly As the onus had not been discharged there is no real contract for remuneration of directors, and the Commissioner was entitled to disallow payments of directors’ fees when making an assessment. Sir Michael Myers, Chief Justice, in dissenting from the judgment, said he was unable to agree with the other members of the Court, for it seemed to him that it was for the Coy. and the Coy. alone, to say what it should pay to its directors. He held that once it was recognised and conceded as it was, that the item of remuneration paid to the directors was deducible as being an expenditure exclusively incurred by the Coy. in the production o'f an assessable income, then the quantum of that remuneration was a matter for the Coy. alone, providing there was actual and bona fide payment to the directors of amount fixed and determined by the Coy. In accordance with the judgment of a majority the appeal was dismissed with £lO 10s costs, on the application of Mr Gray K.C!, conditional leave was granted for an appeal to the Privy Council, security being fixed at £SOO.