Terence Ong (right) says his late father Winston was a jovial and happy-go-lucky guy. Photo / Supplied
Terence Ong (right) says his late father Winston was a jovial and happy-go-lucky guy. Photo / Supplied
An Auckland man is disputing a doctor's diagnosis - done three days after the death and after the body was embalmed - that his father died of a heart attack.
Winston Carter Ong died suddenly last Wednesday aged 72 at the Bupa Beach Haven Care Home.
His son, Terence Ong, 48, believes the death could have been prevented and has taken issue over the diagnosis of Dr Rick Barber, a general practitioner from Browns Bay Medical Centre.
A police spokeswoman said the case has been referred to the Coroner and it was now a Coronial matter.
Bupa Clinical Services director Katherine Foulkes said the service remained fully available to engage with the family and urged them to make direct contact.
Bupa Clinical Services director Katherine Foulkes said the service remained fully available to engage with the family. Photo / Supplied
"We send our sincere condolences to the Ong family after the sudden passing last week of their loved one Mr Ong," Foulkes said.
"We encourage the Ong family to reach out directly to us to share any concerns they have and we remain fully available to engage with them over the coming days and weeks."
In an email to Barber, Ong said the family did not accept his diagnosis.
"When went to see the body we were told that the doctor will come to do a final medical examination and speak to us. But he didn't come," Ong said.
"The doctor also didn't turn up the next day and the body went to the funeral director. He was supposed to go over and do the medical report there, but again he didn't and so the embalming went ahead."
The doctor eventually turned up three days after the death on Saturday morning, Ong said.
After examining the already embalmed body, the doctor concluded he had died of myocardial infarction or heart attack.
"We were just shocked. All along we believe the cause of death is gangrene related as my dad had diabetes but no history of heart disease," Ong said.
Ong said his father had ulcers on the toe and foot and believed these showed gangrene to be the cause.
The late Mr Ong was a Singapore-born Chinese and a permanent resident of New Zealand.
"My dad was a jovial and happy go lucky guy, he is loved by us all and will be dearly missed," Ong said.
"He also has a grandson who is half-Māori, which he loves dearly."
The family is requesting for the rest home to release full medical records and will decide what cause of action to take after that.
Barber said in his email reply to Ong that he was aware that his father had suffered from diabetes, a stroke and dementia.
"In coming to my conclusion on the death I had reviewed his past and recent notes and spoken to several of the nurses who were present and had seen Mr Ong on the day he passed away," Barber said.
The nurses had noted Ong had been drowsy in the morning, Barber said, but that seemed "much like his normal self" and he had also eaten well.
The nurses did not notice any weakness in his limbs or change in breathing. But then he suddenly passed away in the afternoon.
"In coming to a conclusion of heart attack as a cause of death I considered sudden, within minutes to hours, causes of death - usually only blood clots," Barber said.
"Although his death was sudden I felt that an autopsy to look at his internal organs to confirm his cause of death was not necessary as he was older with several severe health problems and that vascular, blood clot problems were common in diabetic and stroke sufferers."
Barber said pressure ulcers did occur in the foot even with excellent nursing care, and that such incidents at Bupa Beach Haven were lower than some other rest homes he worked in.
Barber has been approached for further comments.
A funeral director, who did not want to be named, said a doctor making a diagnosis after a body has been embalmed happens "from time to time".
"It doesn't happen every day, but with death and dying every family's circumstance is different," he said.
