Hospitalisation may have saved misdiagnosed man

A man who died from complications associated with the swine flu virus would have been more likely to survive if he had been hospitalised, a coroner's inquest has heard.

Hawera man Michael Arthur Thompson was found dead in his home on the morning of June 24 2011. A post mortem determined the 41-year-old had died from pneumonia and carried the H1N1 strain.

He had visited a GP twice -- the second time approximately 14 hours prior to his death. On this occasion, he was diagnosed with a bacterial chest infection by Dr Yassir Alaaraji and prescribed amoxicillin.

An inquest into circumstances surrounding the death was held in the Palmerston North High Court this week.

Dr Alaaraji gave evidence to Mr Thompson's inquest via video link from Canada on Tuesday morning.

He stated Mr Thompson had not presented with symptoms in line with the H1N1 virus. Instead, he suspected a lower respiratory tract infection made worse by stress.

Dr Rudyard Yap, an infectious disease specialist for the MidCentral District Health Board, told Coroner Tim Scott (pictured) Dr Alaaraji had made an "inadequate" assessment. He said the consultation notes were "scanty" and didn't include critical factors such as Mr Thompson's respiratory rate or oxygen levels.

"During the assessment there were a number of symptoms not pointed out ... people die from influenza complications like pneumonia or acute kidney injury. There's no mention of this, however it does seem this patient was in septic shock or bleeding there when he got to the consultation."

If hospitalisation had occurred Mr Thompson may have been evaluated for antiviral therapy, intubation for respiratory failure and proper broad spectrum antibiotics, he said. Mr Thompson's survival however could not be "guaranteed".

Mr Thompson's wife, Vicki, shared her own concerns with Dr Alaaraji's about his assessment. She was present at the time and felt unhappy a chest x-ray wasn't undertaken as well as the relatively "simple" tests of taking respiratory rates and oxygen levels.

"You probably spent about five minutes on the flu side ... the rest of the time you talked about yourself," she said.

The Coroner has reserved his decision.