26 Oct 2018

Doctor's alleged dessert joke under scrutiny after man's death

From Morning Report, 8:38 am on 26 October 2018

A coroner's been told a doctor out for dinner made a joke about finishing dessert before going to hospital to treat a critically ill young man. Medical student Zachary Gravatt, who was 22, had been healthy and active before he died at Auckland Hospital in 2009 from meningococcal disease. In 2011, a coroner found Mr Gravatt wasn't treated in a timely fashion and the District Health Board was ordered to pay the family compensation. Now the inquest's been re-opened after the family received an anonymous letter that questioned aspects of the DHB's investigation. Eva Corlett joins Guyon Espiner in the studio.