Doctor charged over death

A DOCTOR has been charged with the manslaughter of a young woman patient. He told an inquest two years ago that he had not been able to read another GP's handwriting.

Sallyanne Camp-Richards, 30, an asthma sufferer, was given a drug for palpitations but died after taking just one tablet.

Dr Arun Sinha told the inquest two years ago that he did not know Miss Camp-Richards was asthmatic because he was unable to decipher medical notes by a fellow doctor.

He prescribed a betablocker drug that is potentially fatal to asthma sufferers. Within hours of taking the medication, Miss Camp-Richards, a sales executive, rang her boyfriend, pleading: 'Help me'.

He found her collapsed at their home in Rumney, Cardiff. Another doctor and paramedics tried to save her but she died 40 minutes later of an asthma attack triggered by the drug.

A coroner ruled there was no criminal negligence and recorded a verdict of accidental death. After a two-year investigation, police have now charged Dr Sinha with manslaughter. A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said he would appear before magistrates later this month.

Miss Camp-Richards saw Dr Sinha at his practice in Ely, Cardiff, complaining of palpitations. He prescribed the Half Indural LA, often used to treat abnormal heart rhythms.