Patient, 19, given twice safe level of painkiller

A 19-YEAR-OLD woman given almost double the recommended dose of painkiller in hospital, a fatal accident inquiry has heard.

Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday heard that Danielle Welsh, who weighed five and a half stones, was given intravenous paracetamol 20 times between 18 and 22 June 2008.

One each occasion the Glasgow teenager, admitted to the Southern General Hospital with a suspected infection, was given an amount designed for someone just under eight stones.

She died on 24 June from liver failure after being transferred to the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. Dr Susan Fraser, a consultant at the Southern General, admitted Danielle should only have been given 525 milligrams instead of one gram. The drug was initially prescribed by a junior doctor and Dr Fraser was asked by lawyer David Hunter, for parents John and Margaret, if this should have been checked. She said: "In retrospect that's correct. I didn't understand the difference between the oral and IV drug."

Mr Hunter then asked: "If intravenous paracetamol is unusual would it not make you pause and check what you were doing?".

She replied: "I think so yes, except it is very common drug."

The inquiry before Sheriff Andrew Cubie continues.