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A Gold Coast grandmother who died at home days after gastric bypass surgery likely would have survived if she had not been discharged from hospital, a state coroner has found, with questions raised over the credibility and reliability of the prominent surgeon responsible.
Rosemarie Campbell, 62, died in February 2022, three days after surgery performed by Dr Reza Adib at Brisbane’s Wesley Hospital.
Her death was referred to the coroner and an inquest was held in August last year.
A report delivered by Deputy State Coroner Stephanie Gallagher this week found Campbell died of a combination of bacterial peritonitis with pneumonia from aspiration, caused by an obstruction of the bowel.
The inquest heard from medical staff responsible for her pre- and post-operative care, including Adib who, at the time, ran the obesity clinic.
Adib’s registration was suspended recently, and he was barred from practising, after being charged with rape last month.
Campbell first received weight-loss surgery from Adib in March 2020, losing more than 40 kilograms in the year that followed.
The inquest heard she developed persistent reflux as a result of the procedure, and in early 2022, she contacted Adib. She weighed about 88 kilograms at this time.
The following month, Adib wrote a letter supporting Campbell’s early access to superannuation to fund a second gastric procedure, referring to a need to curb severe obesity which he proclaimed was a “life-threatening condition”.
He conceded during evidence that her condition was, in fact, not life-threatening, which Gallagher said was “seriously misleading”.
“It is plain that he intended for Ms Campbell’s application to be successful, and it follows that he wrote a letter that contained false statements for that purpose,” Gallagher said.
The deputy coroner criticised the surgeon’s poor record keeping and raised questions about his reliability and credibility throughout the inquest.
In her findings, she said the path to surgery was unnecessarily rushed and it was likely the advice given to her was inadequate and not balanced properly.
“At the very least, a gastroscopy ought to have been offered prior to committing to this serious surgery,” Gallagher said.
Campbell underwent the second surgery on February 24, less than two months after the initial consultation with Adib in January 2022.
The court heard that on two occasions before she was discharged, her vital scores were incorrectly recorded as zero, when they should have been recorded as at least one. She had also been vomiting for about 12 hours.
Nurses called Adib to discuss Campbell’s vomiting and nausea before she was discharged, but did not include information about other vital signs. Adib cleared her discharge and prescribed anti-vomiting medication.
Campbell left the Wesley Hospital on February 26 and returned to her Gold Coast home with her husband, who provided evidence that she complained of stomach pain and got up several times through the night.
When Campbell woke the following day, she had difficulty moving, and later collapsed while her husband was downstairs. Despite attempts to revive her, she died within an hour.
Gallagher said Campbell’s deterioration on the morning she left hospital was such that she should not have been discharged.
She continued that if Adib had seen his patient and reviewed her, he would not have allowed her to leave hospital.
“Had Dr Adib been alerted to the issues of concern and attended upon Ms Campbell, it would seem that he would not, acting appropriately, have agreed to Ms Campbell’s discharge and indeed, she would have been assessed and investigated for the cause of her complaints,” Gallagher said.
“Both complications are treatable and while death may still occur, it can be inferred from this evidence that it would more likely than not have been avoided had Ms Campbell not been discharged and instead had been reviewed by Dr Adib.”
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