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Accident victim (35) dies from fall off hospital bed
View(s):An inquiry into the death of a 35-year-old man from Anuradhapura, determined that it was a result of a fall from the bed at the Anuradhapura hospital where he was receiving treatment for minor injuries caused by a motorcycle accident, the Coroner’s court was told yesterday.
The victim, Padmasiri Mangala Wijewardena died at the National Hospital of Colombo (NHC) last Monday (28) after his transfer from Anuradhapura hospital following the fall.
On the night of September 26, he was returning home with a friend on his bike when they toppled over a stack of firewood, and were immediately rushed to hospital.
Mr Wijewardena was later transferred to the NHC where he succumbed to injuries sustained from a fall at Anuradhapura General Hospital.
His brother, Kithsiri Ranjan Wijewardena, 41, giving evidence before the Additional Inquirer into Sudden Deaths Iresha Deshani Samaraweera, last Monday, said his brother had fallen off the hospital bed and death was due to the negligence of hospital authorities.
He requested an inquest into the incident.Ms Samaraweera ordered the police to produce the Bed Head Ticket (BHT) containing the medical reports of the deceased, at the Coroner’s courts.
The BHT produced at the courts yesterday (10) proved that the patient died of head injuries sustained from the fall off the hospital bed.
Giving evidence at the Coronal courts, another patient at the hospital, Beddage Jayalath, 23, said, “He was treated next to my bed.
That day when the doctors were with the victim, he was struggling. I moved from my bed to give them sufficient space. I saw the patient fall off the bed, and the staff lifted him and put him back on the bed.
JMO Dr M. Kogal Shankar concluded that death was caused by blunt force trauma. Ms Samaraweera ordered the JMO to further investigate the incident and present his verdict next week.