Doctor accused of 'making up' evidence

A medical doctor was today accused of “lying” and “making up” evidence that he had asked a patient about a history of heart problems.

Anthony Geraghty (32) collapsed and died just over an hour after being seen by Dr Sandor Endredi in the D-Doc clinic in Coolock in Dublin in October 2009.

At the second day of a Medical Council fitness-to-practise committee hearing today, Dr Endredi was accused of a range of allegations that he failed to take a proper note of Mr Geraghty’s condition, and failed to give adequate consideration to Mr Geraghty’s cardiovascular history.

The committee heard Mr Geraghty had a history of cardiovascular treatment following a collapse and treatment at the coronary unit in the Mater Hospital in 2002. He had been taking beta blockers until 2008.

The committee heard that in 2009 Mr Geraghty was taking benzodiazepines, had a 15 pint-per-night alcohol habit, and was on prescription methadone.

But the committee was told Mr Geraghty had been off alcohol for about 72 hours when his family called the clinic shortly after midnight on October 20th, 2009.

Dr Endredi said a triage nurse had taken an 11-minute call from the family in which the nurse had taken details of Mr Geraghty’s condition. He said these details were passed to him, and he saw Mr Geraghty for 20 minutes.

Dr Endredi gave evidence that he had asked Mr Geraghty about any heart problems but was told there was “no particular history” of heart disease. He diagnosed Mr Geraghty as suffering from an upper airway infection, obesity, a fast heart beat and alcohol withdrawal.

Mr Geraghty was discharged from the out-of-hours clinic and sent home. He collapsed and was taken by ambulance to the Mater hospital where he was declared dead.

Dr Endredi, who qualified in Hungary in 1977, said he had made written notes of his clinical treatment of Mr Geraghty after he heard the patient had died. These were a more complete record than the notes on the computerized case file.

He had typed out these notes the following November, but he said the original written notes which he had made were now missing.

However at yesterday’s hearing Patrick Leonard BL instructed by McDowell Purcell solicitors suggested Dr Endredi had not asked Mr Geraghty about his history of cardiac disease. “You didn’t ask him, you are making it up”, Mr Leonard said.

“You are lying about this you are giving untruthful evidence” said Mr Leonard.

Mr Leonard recalled Mr Geraghty had some years earlier been treated in the coronary unit of the Mater Hospital, had been on beta blockers until a year previously, “and you are asking this committee to believe he said he had no cardiac history.”

“He had collapsed and attended cardiology and had been on medication and he told you nothing about that?” Mr Leonard asked.

Dr Endredi said this was not an unlikely scenario as Mr Geraghty had been suffering from alcohol withdrawal.

The case continues.