A Dover woman, 69‑year‑old former carer Susan Sharp, died after William Harvey Hospital in Ashford administered the same contrast dye twice, despite clear evidence from her first collapse that she had suffered a severe allergic reaction.
In October 2024, Susan attended William Harvey Hospital for a CT scan to check for possible blood clots.
She was given Omnipaque, an iodine‑based contrast dye. Minutes later, she went into cardiac arrest inside the scanner — later shown to be caused by a severe allergic reaction.
To confirm anaphylaxis, specialised tryptase tests were performed, and she spent weeks in critical care after being resuscitated.
Those test results came back before her next scan, clearly demonstrating the first arrest was dye‑related — but nobody checked them. Four weeks later, she was given Omnipaque again, triggering a second cardiac arrest, this time killing her.
Her death was initially recorded as natural causes, and she was cremated before the facts emerged. Only after a family member questioned what occurred did the hospital realise the fatal mistake.
A series of preventable mistakes was outlined during the inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone.
Test results confirmed anaphylaxis was available but ignored; no allergy flag was added to her records, no cross-checking before administering contrast a second time, no safeguarding for a patient who had already survived cardiac arrest linked to the dye, and delayed testing processes because samples had to be sent off-site, delaying diagnosis and increasing risk.
Since then, East Kent Hospitals has issued an apology and says it has implemented new safety protocols, but even so, these were avoidable NHS deaths caused by basic clinical oversight, poor communication, and failure to treat red-flag symptoms seriously.
There was no grey area here. This was not an unusual or unforeseen occurrence. Tests verified that this allergy was recognised, yet personnel disregarded it, and it kept happening, and it mirrors other fatal contrast‑dye cases nationally, where coroner reports have warned about:
- inconsistent allergy checks
- poor emergency response
- lack of staff awareness of anaphylaxis protocols
But on another note, people who are old and frail are being tricked into signing a DNR form without the family present, that’s if they have any family at all, but the thing is, some of these people, even though they might be elderly and frail, can still live independently, and this is one of the quietest, least-discussed scandals in the UK, especially in the care system.
They might be old and frail, but they are being bullied, deceived, or pressured into signing these forms, even though these people still live independently, manage their own lives, and are definitely not at the ‘end of life’.
This isn’t a rare anecdote — it’s a documented national problem, and this is illegal, unethical, and dangerously common.
Many elderly people are especially vulnerable because they trust authority, they don’t want to be or are made to feel like they are a burden, or they feel intimidated by medical staff. Some might not fully understand the form, or they are asked when they’re ill, tired, or confused, and they have no family present to advocate.
And some staff — not all, but enough — exploit that.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 