Allergy death an isolated incident - Commission

Laurie and Eunice Richardson.

The tragic death of a Christchurch pensioner was a "very sad" but isolated incident, says New Zealand's health safety regulator.

Eunice Richardson, 80, died what her husband said was an "agonising and needless" death in late 2013 after hospital staff administered a drug that a MedicAlert bracelet she wore warned she was allergic to.

Her allergy to Trimethoprim, a bacteriostatic antibiotic, caused her skin to form painful, enormous blisters which had to be scrubbed off by hospital staff, husband Laurie Richardson said.

Mrs Richardson was administered the drug during a stay in Princess Margaret Hospital in Christchurch and reacted so violently that she lost 65 per cent of her skin to blistering.

She died in her husband's arms on November 30, 2013.

Throughout her ordeal, she had been wearing her MedicAlert bracelet, which stated "Allergy Trimethoprim".

The Health Quality and Safety Commission - the Government body tasked with improving health safety - said it could not find a "similar serious adverse event reported to it over the past five years which mentions MedicAlert".

However, the commission added that reports submitted to the commission would "not necessarily contain this level of detail".

The commission said it would take note of any recommendations made by officials investigating the death.

"This very sad death is currently subject to a coronial inquest and Health and Disability Commissioner investigation and any calls or recommendations those bodies may make.

"The commission will take note of any such outcomes and actions which could be taken to prevent such an incident occurring in the future."

MedicAlert New Zealand chief executive Murray Lord said he was concerned that over-reliance on computer systems meant there were gaps in patient care.

"Investing in technology does not replace MedicAlert, and that seems to be the theme that I'm hearing anecdotally," he said.

"If there is an issue here, we need to find out how deep this goes and we need to expose it and we need to deal with it.'

While he had not heard of any more instances occurring which were as serious as Mrs Richardson's, Mr Lord said the use of MedicAlert by medical professionals needed to be investigated.

"The concern is whether the protocols for correct utilisation of MedicAlert bracelets are being adopted and respected by health providers," he said.

Mr Lord said sometimes systems could break down and it was vital to find out what had happened to prevent future incidents like Mrs Richardson's from happening.

"We do have to respect that this is still in front of the coroner, so we don't want to be jumping to conclusions ... but just talking in principal it's most important that health providers respect patients' rights."