Tag: GERD

Categories : Ethics and Law PaediatricsTags :

Murder-accused Paediatric Surgeon Advised that Procedures Were Unnecessary

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

A state witness in the trial of murder accused Dr Peter Beale has testified that colleagues advised him against a procedure which led to the death of a three year old patient.

Paediatric surgeon Beale is charged with three counts of murder, as a result of deaths from unnecessary surgeries over 2012 to 2019. He is also charged with two counts of fraud. He was first arrested in 2019, with his trial date postponed multiple times and only getting underway this week Monday in Johannesburg. His co-accused, anaesthetist Dr Abdulhay Munshi, was shot dead in 2020. As a result of the case, some have voiced concerns over what could lead to criminalisation over deaths resulting from unavoidable errors and systemic failures.

Two of the three deaths stemmed from laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication, a complex and costly procedure that is usually used to treat GERD by tightening the junction of the oesophagus and stomach.

According to the indictment, Beale is accused of “unlawfully and intentionally” causing the deaths of a three-year-old boy in 2012, a 21-month-old girl in 2016 and a 10-year-old boy in 2019 after he had operated on the children.

The state contends that Beale performed these unnecessary procedures as he needed money to recover from heavy financial losses incurred in a failed investment in the 1990s.

News24 reports that, based on a rectal biopsy, Beale believed that the three year old boy had Hirschsprung’s Disease, requiring surgical intervention. As reported in Beeld, Beale said in his plea explanation that he “misread” the patient’s biopsy results and did not deliberately misrepresent the biopsy results to the parents.

The parents sought a second opinion, the state alleges, and the second doctor was hesitant about carrying out the procedure. Beale was able to convince the other doctor that the procedure was necessary based on the biopsy results. Beale also explained in his plea deal that there was a variant of the disease, and the treatment was the same. His counsel, Advocate Ian Greene, also pointed out that the pathologist testified at a disciplinary hearing that the biopsy did not exclude the variant even if it did not exclude Hirschsprung’s Disease.

According to News24, a state witness, who is another paediatric surgeon who remains anonymous at the court’s order, stated that Beale had tried to recruit him to a Ponzi scheme. The scheme had a joining fee of R1 million.

The witness, who had know Beale since 1996, said that in 2009, the accused had also confided in him at a conference that he had suffered significant losses in an investment. The witness was also on the committee at the Healthcare Practitioners’ Council of South Africa disciplinary hearing over the three-year-old’s death. Beale has since been struck from the HPCSA.

The South African Medical Association released a statement urging that, while tragic, the case highlights laws that criminalise and punish individuals instead of taking into account the various organisational failings that can lead to patient deaths and can in no way prevent “unavoidable errors”.

Note: this article has been updated to correct the number of laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication procedures and to add more information about the Hirschsprung’s Disease diagnosis.

Categories : Gastrointestinal NeurologyTags : Leave a comment

Possible Dementia Risk from Long Term Proton Pump Inhibitor Use

On By ModernMedia
Source: Pixabay CC0

People who take proton pump inhibitors for acid reflux four-and-a-half years or more may have a higher risk of dementia compared to people who do not take these medications, according to new research published in Neurology.

Acid reflux is when stomach acid flows into the oesophagus, usually after a meal or when lying down, resulting in heartburn and ulcers. People with frequent acid reflux may develop gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, which can lead to cancer of the oesophagus. Proton pump inhibitors reduce stomach acid by targeting the enzymes in the stomach lining that produce that acid.

“Proton pump inhibitors are a useful tool to help control acid reflux, however long-term use has been linked in previous studies to a higher risk of stroke, bone fractures and chronic kidney disease,” said study author Kamakshi Lakshminarayan, MBBS, PhD, of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “Still, some people take these drugs regularly, so we examined if they are linked to a higher risk of dementia. While we did not find a link with short-term use, we did find a higher risk of dementia associated with long-term use of these drugs.”

The study included 5712 people, aged 45 and up, without dementia at the start of the study. They had an average age of 75.

Researchers determined if participants took acid reflux drugs by reviewing their medications during study visits and during yearly phone calls. Of the participants, 1490 people, or 26%, had taken the drugs. Participants were then divided into four groups based on whether they had taken the drugs and for how long, as follows: people who did not take the drugs; those who took the drugs for up to 2.8 years; those who took them for 2.8 to 4.4 years; and people who took them for more than 4.4 years.

Participants were then followed for a median duration of 5.5 years. During this time, 585 people, or 10%, developed dementia.

Of the 4222 people who did not take the drugs, 415 people developed dementia, or 19 cases per 1000 person-years. Person-years represent both the number of people in the study and the amount of time each person spends in the study. Of the 497 people who took the drugs for more than 4.4 years, 58 people developed dementia, or 24 cases per 1000 person-years.

After adjusting for factors such as age, sex and race, as well as health-related factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes, researchers found people who had been taking acid reflux drugs for more than 4.4 years had a 33% higher risk of developing dementia than people who never took the drugs.

Researchers did not find a higher risk of dementia for people who took the drugs for fewer than 4.4 years.

“More research is needed to confirm our findings and explore reasons for the possible link between long-term proton pump inhibitor use and a higher risk of dementia,” said Lakshminarayan. “While there are various ways to treat acid reflux, such as taking antacids, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding late meals and certain foods, different approaches may not work for everyone. It is important that people taking these medications speak with their doctor before making any changes, to discuss the best treatment for them, and because stopping these drugs abruptly may result in worse symptoms.”

A limitation of the study was that participants were asked once a year about medication use, so researchers estimated use between annual check-ins. If participants stopped and restarted acid reflux drugs in between check-ins, estimation of their use may have been inaccurate. The authors were also unable to assess if participants took over the counter acid reflux drugs.

Source: American Academy of Neurology