A coroner's court has heard that a 56-year-old mother of five suffering from bone marrow cancer died after being prescribed four times the dose of chemotherapy drugs by a doctor – and pharmacists at the hospital involved also failed to check the prescription.

The Press Association reports that Dr Jacqueline James prescribed 60mg per day of the drug Idarubicin for myeloma patient Anna McKenna, when she should have received 60mg over four days.

Mrs McKenna, from Knowle, was diagnosed with myeloma in March 2006. The court heard that, after she had been given an overdose of the drug, another patient received an overdose shortly afterwards.

Pharmacists at the Frenchay Hospital in Bristol should have checked her prescription, but failed to pick up the mistake.

The jury at Flax Bourton Coroner's Court in Bristol was told that, as a result of the prescription mistake, Mrs McKenna was left with too few white blood cells and a 'severely impaired immune system'.

After receiving the chemotherapy, she went on to develop complications – including fever and renal failure – and died at Bristol Oncology Centre in April 2006, three weeks after her first dose of chemotherapy.

Her daughter Nancy said the registrar at the oncology centre was 'shocked' at the amount of drugs her mother had been taking before she was admitted.

Consultant Dr Jacqueline James apologised in court for her mistake in filling out the prescription. Frenchay Hospital said that ‘robust measures’ had now been put in place to prevent another similar mistake, including two pharmacists checking each prescription instead of one.

The family of Mrs McKenna have accused doctors of a cover-up, however, claiming there has been a ‘conspiracy to conceal’ the mistake. Mrs McKenna’s daughter Nancy told the inquest on Wednesday (23/00/09) that the family had repeatedly told doctors of their concerns about an overdose.

According to a report by www.thisisbristol.co.uk, the consultant haemotologist who treated Mrs McKenna in her final weeks, Dr Stephen Robinson, said he had 'no knowledge' of an overdose until two days before her death. He added that the matter had been raised at a meeting of senior doctors on April 6, however, and the conclusion had been that other causes of Mrs McKenna's 'prolonged illness' were 'far more plausible'.

After the meeting, Dr Robinson said he had received a letter from Dr Jacqueline James stating incorrectly that the chemotherapy dose Mrs McKenna had received had been the correct one.

Dr Robinson said, however, that even if had doctors known about the mistake earlier, 'nothing could have been done differently to save Mrs McKenna'.

Doctors at the hospital have denied any attempt to conceal the mistake.

An independent haematology expert from University College Hospitals London, Dr Kwee Yong, told the inquest that she felt the overall standard of care Mrs McKenna had received was 'of a high standard'.

The inquest continues.

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