BA Stewardess: Inquest Verdict
The Inquest into the death of the BA Stewardess who died in Nairobi found that she died of Natural Causes, probably after suffering a seizure (an epileptic fit).
Early Press speculation linking her death to DVT turned out to be completely unfounded.
The Coroner urged the makers of the anti-smoking drug Zyban to give clearer warnings about its use after linking it to the death of a 21-year-old air stewardess.
Kerry Weston died from an epileptic seizure after taking Zyban, the anti-malarial drug chloroquine and sleeping pills.
Alan Lawson, the Hertford Coroner, said that in the light of Ms Weston’s death, GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of Zyban, should give doctors more information about when to prescribe it. He said that Zyban was “incompatible” with chloroquine.
Miss Kerry Weston, from Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, was found dead in her hotel room in Nairobi, Kenya, a fortnight after she was prescribed Zyban. She had told her GP, Mark Andrews, that she was desperate to give up smoking. She failed to tell him that she had suffered epileptic episodes in 1997 and during the week before her death.
During the inquest Howard Marsh, senior medical adviser for Zyban at GlaxoSmithKline, admitted that patients with a history of seizures should be prescribed Zyban only with “extreme caution” and it should not be given to epileptics. At least 360,000 people have been prescribed Zyban in Britain since it was licenced in June last year and 37 patients have died.
Chloroquine is a well-established anti-malaria drug which has been used safely for years. Zyban is still a new drug and is still on doctors' "Black Triangle" List - to be prescribed with great caution and the side effects closely monitored.
BA was represented by PPruNe's FLYING LAWYER, aka Barrister Mr Tudor Owen.