'NATURAL CAUSES'
DEATH IN HOSPITAL. ALLEGATIONS UNFOUNDED. REMARKS BY CORONER. "I regret that publicity has been given to details of the post-mortem, and I am perfectly satisfied that the tongue was not separately removed, but properly removed with other organs in the course of the post-mortem examination," said the coroner, Mr. W. R. McKean, S.M., yesterday afternoon, in finding that the death of Norman Burgess, aged 22, who died under an anaesthetic at the Auckland Hospital on August 19, was due to natural causes. The inquiry was an adjourned one, and at the previous session both the father and a brother of the deceased swore that the tongue had been excised from tlio mouth before the post-mortem. Mr. J. J. Sullivan appeared for tlio relatives of deceased and Mr. W. H. Cocker for the Auckland Hospital Board. Sergeant Jones conductcd the case for the police.
Mr. MeKean added that he was satisfied that the tongue had not been removed beforo the examination. There was nothing unusual in ordering an examination in this particular case, and there had been nothing unusual in the proccduro of the examination. Ho was at a loss to know why the allegations had been made. They were entirely unfounded.
Evidence of a telephone conversation between herself and Dr. J. W. Craven, medical superintendent of the Auckland Hospital, was given by Lorna Gwendoline Burgess, sister-in-law of deceased. She had then asked Dr. Craven what he had done with the tongue, and the doctor had replied that he knew nothing about it.
Dr. E. P. Fowler, who carried out the post-mortem examination, said that he removed the tongue, larnyx and windpipe, in accordance with medical practice in cases where an examination had been ordered by the coroner.
The tongue was in the body at the post-mortem and was not removed separately, said Dr. Craven. The examination was conducted ulong normal lines.
The coroner's verdict was that death was duo to heart failure while deceased was under an anaesthetic.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19351003.2.121
Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 234, 3 October 1935, Page 17
Word Count
330'NATURAL CAUSES' Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 234, 3 October 1935, Page 17
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Auckland Star. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Auckland Libraries.