This article and comment by me is dedicated to Professor Dr Vythilingam
It was written "BMJ" there. This means he must have got the report from the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Here is the report I received:
Doctor dies after hospital he worked at gave him wrong medicine
By Clare Dyer
A senior histopathologist died of an overdose after being given the wrong medicine by staff at the NHS trust where he worked.
Ray McMahon, a professor of gastrointestinal pathology at the University of Manchester and consultant histopathologist with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust,1 had a cardiac arrest after being given the drug, which was three times too strong.
McMahon, who was also president elect of the International Academy of Pathology, died in February aged 68, four days after being admitted to Wythenshawe Hospital with a low grade fever, reduced appetite, and cough.
An inquest into his death at the Manchester coroner’s court heard that McMahon had been transferred to intensive care and that an infectious disease consultant had recommended that he be given liposomal amphotericin, a drug used to treat fungal respiratory infections, if his condition did not improve. The drug is normally stored at room temperature on a shelf in the pharmacy but, in error, a preparation of liposomal amphotericin that needed to be stored in the fridge was prescribed instead. As a result of this error a trainee pharmacist looked in the fridge and wrongly identified non-lipid amphotericin as the correct medicine.
Liposomal amphotericin requires a considerably larger dose than the non-lipid drug. As a result, McMahon was given a significant overdose of the non-lipid drug for nearly an hour. His condition deteriorated, and he had a cardiac arrest. Resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful, and he died.
Katherine Ajdukiewicz of Manchester University NHS
Foundation Trust told the court that a “cascade of errors” had led to McMahon’s death.
Multiple failings
The acting senior coroner, Zak Golombek, concluded that McMahon had died after an overdose of the incorrect medicine and that neglect had contributed to his death.
McMahon’s wife, Claire McMahon, a retired GP, said,
“I and my family would like to express our extreme disappointment, distress, and sadness at what happened to Ray, especially within the trust that he’d worked in for many years. “Ray devoted his whole life to the NHS, but as a patient he was failed by Wythenshawe Hospital. We are grateful for the thorough investigation undertaken by the hospital, but to know that both system and individual failures caused his death is devastating.
Our disappointment extends to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust as an organisation.”
Rachael Heyes, a specialist medical negligence solicitor at the law firm JMW, representing the McMahon family, said, “What happened to Ray was a complete tragedy. There were multiple failings in his care, including the initial prescribing and the dispensing of the antifungal medication.
“I hope that the trust can learn from what happened and ensure that the processes now in place are effective and no other patients are exposed to potentially serious harm in the future.”
Sohail Munshi, joint chief medical officer at the trust, said that McMahon had been a valued member of staff for many years who had made significant contributions to the health service. He added, “We are committed to providing the best care possible for our patients, and we will be reviewing the coroner’s conclusion carefully, to ensure that any further learning for the trust is addressed and applied to our constant work to improve our patients’ safety, quality of care, and experience.”
the BMJ
Here is my comment.
Let us accept this as gospel truth.
Whether or not Dr Ray McMahon was given an under dose, the correct dose or a lethal overdose of amphotericin, he still like all of us must die one day together with all the doctors who treated him. Once dead it makes no difference whether we die young or old whatever the cause
Medicine does not prevent us from death for sure. Untold number of doctors all too have already died in the past. New ones will arise and they too must die together with their patients later. There is no cure for death, with or without medicine. This will also happen to non doctors too.
In Ecclesiastes 12:7 of the bible it clearly tells us we shall all return as dust to the ground from where we came (with or without medicine)
It states, "and the spirit returns to God who gave it". This verse is often paired with the phrase that "the dust returns to the earth as it was" to describe the separation of the body and spirit at death (irrespective of whatever medicine the doctor gave - whether the correct or overdose)
Just remember this verse :
"Thou does art unto dust thou returnth" from Genesis 3:19
This means "by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return".
This verse explains that work will be a source of struggle and frustration - whether we are a doctor, a scientist, engineer, teacher, technician, a nurse, a businessman, a politician, a prime minister or even a king
All will have to go into dust and ash, and that the physical body of a person is mortal and will return to the earth after death.
This is spiritual food and spiritual medicine for our eternal soul. They are not chemical medicines prescribed by doctors for our physical body.
I have already explained to everyone humanity fleeting moments since creation
How else do you want me to explain
https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/2025/11/humanitys-fleeting-moment-in-age-of.html?m=1
Let me rewrite the above in a more somber reflection on the brevity of life with more spacing 'to breathe'
The passing of Prof. Ray McMahon reminds us of a truth that medicine, science, and technology, despite all their triumphs, can never escape. Even when every dose is correct and every decision is precise, life remains a fragile flicker in the vast silence of time. Whether through error or accuracy, through illness or age, each of us walks a path that eventually leads to the same destination.
Death does not bow to knowledge, nor does it respect status. It comes to the healer as it comes to the afflicted, to the scholar as to the child. Our machines may grow more powerful, our medicines more precise, our laboratories more advanced, but none of these can alter the truth that the human body is temporary, a vessel sustained for a moment in eternity.
Scripture speaks simply and profoundly:
“The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
“For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:19)
These words are not merely ancient poetry; they are a mirror held before the human soul. They remind us that we spend so much of our lives strengthening the body, while the spirit, the one part of us that does not perish, is left unattended.
We chase cures, extend years, correct errors, and refine our technologies. Yet no discovery, however brilliant, can grant immortality. At best, medicine touches the body; it cannot reach into the chambers of the heart where humility, compassion, and eternal meaning dwell.
Perhaps our greatest illusion is the belief that life will respect us for our achievements, the university degrees after our names, the titles before our names, our wealth, our power and status in society. But illness strips these away, and death dissolves them to silence. What remains is not the pride of our accomplishments, but the condition of our soul.
Therefore, the truest healing is spiritual.
The deepest medicine is humility.
The only enduring life is the one that begins when this mortal one ends.
In recognizing the brevity of life, we do not despair. Instead, we learn to walk gently, to speak kindly, to forgive quickly, and to hold lightly the things we cannot keep. For while the body returns to dust, the spirit journeys onward - to the God who breathed life into it.
Jb lim
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