Man with dementia dies after accidentally pouring washing detergent in his cup of tea instead of milk
GettyCleaning eco set for different surfaces in home. Front view.[/caption]
A MAN with dementia died after pouring white-coloured washing detergent into a cup of tea instead of milk in “an apparent confusion”.
David Hayes, 82, from Bolton, accidentally ingested the liquid and was admitted to hospital the next day, on April 16.
David mistook detergent for milk
He had vomited after drinking the tea and is believed to have inhaled the detergent and stomach acid into his lungs causing fatal damage.
Doctors diagnosed him with pneumonitis, swelling of the lungs, thought to have been triggered by chemical aspiration.
Despite treatment with antibiotics, steroids and pain relief, he continued to get worse and he sadly died five days later, on April 21.
An inquest held at Bolton Coroner’s Court on July 17 concluded his death was accidental.
The official cause was pneumonitis and aspiration due to ingestion of a chemical substance.
David had Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia which affects memory, thinking skills and other mental abilities.
He had previously been discharged from hospital the day before his final admission, following an earlier accidental detergent ingestion.
Coroner Michael Pemberton said: “This had occurred when he had made a cup of tea at home and put washing detergent into the cup instead of milk after an apparent confusion.
“He had vomited following the ingestion and it is likely that he aspirated.”
Following the inquest, the coroner issued a formal warning to the Government and major charities, urging action to prevent similar deaths.
He wrote to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Age UK, Dementia UK and the Alzheimer’s Society, highlighting safety concerns around the packaging of household cleaning products.
He said the detergent had been stored in a plastic bottle that resembled a milk carton, with a screw top and no childproof features.
This, he said, made it “easily accessible by a person with reduced capacity or dementia, or even a child”.
While the liquid was classed as low toxicity, it still caused vomiting and aspiration in Mr Hayes, ultimately leading to his death.
The corner said there was “a risk of similar events”.
He said this was because “the colouring of the liquid is similar to items which a person suffering from an infirmity such as dementia may get confused – here milk”.
He also warned that “public knowledge of these risks is not likely to be at a level where households in which vulnerable adults reside are aware of the need to safeguard detergents and make them less accessible.”
In a similar case two years ago, a dad-of-five died after mistakenly pouring washing detergent on a bowl of cornflakes instead of milk.
Tom McDonald died in March 2023. He had been diagnosed with dementia five years earlier.
Is it ageing or dementia?
Dementia - the most common form of which is Alzheimer's - comes on slowly over time.
As the disease progresses, symptoms can become more severe.
But at the beginning, the symptoms can be subtle or mistaken for normal memory issues related to ageing.
The US National Institute on Aging gives some examples of what is considered normal forgetfulness in old age, and dementia disease.
You can refer to these above.
For example, it is normal for an ageing person to forget which word to use from time-to-time, but difficulting having conversation would be more indicative of dementia.
Katie Puckering, Head of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Information Services team, previously told The Sun: “We quite commonly as humans put our car keys somewhere out of the ordinary and it takes longer for us to find them.
“As you get older, it takes longer for you to recall, or you really have to think; What was I doing? Where was I? What distracted me? Was it that I had to let the dog out? And then you find the keys by the back door.
“That process of retrieving the information is just a bit slower in people as they age.
“In dementia, someone may not be able to recall that information and what they did when they came into the house.
“What may also happen is they might put it somewhere it really doesn’t belong. For example, rather than putting the milk back in the fridge, they put the kettle in the fridge.”
GettyThe detergent had been stored in a plastic bottle that resembled a milk carton[/caption]
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