Swine flu played a part in Birmingham mum's death

Jun 15 2010 by Adam Aspinall, Birmingham Mail

SWINE flu played a part in the sudden death of a Birmingham mum, an inquest heard.

Dawn Pearce, aged 46 and from Shard End, suffered a heart attack as she waited for an X-ray at the city’s Heartlands Hospital on July 23 last year.

An inquest was told she had been suffering from breathing difficulties and vomiting and had been taking anti-flu drug Tamiflu after suffering swine flu symptoms.

Consultant pathologist Dr Simon Trotter, from Heartlands Hospital, said Mrs Pearce died as a result of heart failure brought on by swine flu which was underlined by morbid obesity.

Her family suspected she may have died so suddenly because of an adverse reaction to her Tamiflu medication.

But Birmingham coroner Aidan Cotter recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.

He said Mrs Pearce’s heart was two and a half times the normal size and she could have died at anytime.

Mr Cotter said: “Her heart was significantly diseased and I don’t think Tamiflu was responsbile for her death at all.

“I cannot remember any death due to Tamiflu, all it does is shorten the period of infection.

“It is not a cure and her condition was so grave it did not do any good at all.

“She had a severe problem with her heart and it is unlikely she would have survived whether she had taken Tamiflu or not.”

After the inquest, Mrs Pearce’s husband Richard, aged 50, told the Birmingham Mail he was satisified with the outcome.

He said: “It has been a tough time for me and all the family and we were looking for answers because she died so suddenly and I think we got them at the inquest.

“Dawn had had health problems in the past.

“We just wanted to make sure that everything had been done to help her.

“We are satisfied now that it was and we are happy with the verdict.”

There have been a total of 40 deaths in the Midlands where there has been a positive test for swine flu.