DEATH IN DENTAL ROOM

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 394, 30 June 1928, Page 12

DEATH IN DENTAL ROOM

WHILE UNDER ANAESTHETIC EVERY PRECAUTION TAKEN (Special to THE SUN) TAIHAPE, Friday. An inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of a Maori woman, Titi Te Hangirunga, the wife of Tihone Kereopa, who collapsed and died while under an anaesthetic yesterday morning in a local dentist’s rooms, was heard before Mr. S. Addridge, district coroner, to-day. Tihone Kereopa, husband of ~ deceased, said his wife had always been somewhat delicate. She was 26 years of age, and was the mother of six children. Pr. G. K. Mac Diarmid, of Taihape, said he examined deceased’s heart on Wednesday and again 3'esterday, when it appeared to be normal. Deceased took the chloroform in a perfectly normal manner, and the dentist, Dr. L. B. H. De Lautour, proceeded with the extraction of the teeth. The operation was almost completed when the patient stopped breathing. At no time before the collapse was witness caused any anxiety by the patient’s condition. Dr. Sinclair, of Taihape, said he had conducted a post-mortem examination, and found that the cause of death was fibrillation of the ventricles of the heart. Such a condition could not be ascertained by prior examination. The coroner returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, and said no blame was attachable to anyone. ■ "