A WIDOW whose husband died from complications following surgery is suing for compensation.
Lynn Hough, aged 55, is suing the Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for damages of up to £300,000.
A writ claims that her husband, Arthur, died from renal failure in November 2004, caused by septicaemia due to peritonitis complicated by pneumonia and MRSA.
It alleges that surgeons operated too late to save him.
Mrs Hough, of Loweswater Close, Orford, accuses the trust of negligence and claims that if he had received correct treatment, he would probably have survived.
Mr Hough went to his GP in March 2004, complaining of pain in his abdomen, and was prescribed Gaviscon. His condition deteriorated, he visited his GP several times, and lost a considerable amount of weight.
An urgent medical procedure at a private hospital revealed that he needed emergency surgery for cancer, which was performed at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital the same day.
The writ says that, after the operation, doctors diagnosed septic shock and Mr Hough went on to develop pneumonia and gangrene.
He was suffering from faecal peritonitis, sepsis and complications. In the weeks leading up to his death he developed multi organ failure, an open abdominal wound and MRSA.
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