Hospital bug killed patient, inquest hears

A Dublin man contracted MRSA in hospital and died as a result, an inquest has heard

A Dublin man contracted MRSA in hospital and died as a result, an inquest has heard. Thomas Murdiff (53), Butterfield Grove, Athboy, Co Meath, died on December 14th, 2004, at the Mater hospital after contracting MRSA.

Mr Murdiff, a former Evening Heraldsports editor, twice tested positive for MRSA at the Mater after stays in hospital, and coroner Dr Brian Farrell said that as it was a "hospital-acquired infection" there was "no doubt that the patient was infected while in hospital".

As well as the Mater, Mr Murdiff was a patient at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan, Co Meath.

Michael Gleeson, legal representative for the two hospitals, and Séamus Noonan, barrister for one of the doctors involved in Mr Murdiff's care, both said they did not agree that Mr Murdiff necessarily caught MRSA in hospital, as it can be contracted in the community.

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An inquest into his death was yesterday adjourned so that a microbiologist could give expert evidence on how MRSA is contracted and carried in hospitals. Dr Farrell said it was important "in the public interest" as well as for Mr Murdiff's family to hear expert testimony on MRSA.

A "fundamental failure in communication" at the Mater hospital led to a toe amputation being carried out on Mr Murdiff without doctors' knowledge that he had been diagnosed with MRSA, because the test results were not added to his file, Ross Maguire, for the family, told the court.

Mr Martin O'Donohoe, consultant general vascular surgeon at the Mater, told the court that he amputated Mr Murdiff's left big toe as the tip was affected by gangrene because of ongoing medical problems with his feet, including ulcerations that were linked to his diabetes. Mr Murdiff had also undergone a heart valve operation at the Mater a couple of years previously.

His second toe amputation was carried out in November 2004. But Mr Murdiff, who had tested positive for MRSA three months previously but had been treated and subsequently tested negative, had again tested positive for the virus while attending the Mater public hospital as an out-patient a few days before the amputation.

The amputation was carried out in the Mater private hospital and information about the positive MRSA diagnosis was not added to his file, Mr O'Donohoe told the court. When questioned, Mr O'Donohoe said he did not believe a computer database system existed at the Mater whereby staff could check patients' charts.

In a letter to the Dublin City Coroner, Ruth Murdiff outlined how after her husband's amputation, he was left in a Mater private ward with his open foot bleeding on the floor because his stitches had burst.

Mr O'Donohoe said that "whether he had MRSA or not" no-one should have their bare foot on the floor following an amputation and "it certainly wasn't with my consent".

He said had he known that Mr Murdiff tested positive for MRSA he would still have gone ahead with the amputation but would have placed him in isolation to contain the virus.

Mr Murdiff made good progress following the amputation and was released from hospital on December 2nd. But a week later he was rushed to Navan hospital when he became suddenly ill and tested positive for MRSA septicaemia. He was rushed back to the Mater but died within a few days.

The inquest will resume on February 5th next.