Woman starves to death after weight-loss surgery

A 20-stone London woman "starved to death" after an NHS gastric bypass operation went wrong.

Today Kim Blake's parents warned against the dangers of resorting to surgery to lose weight, following the inquest into the death of the single mother from Kentish Town.

Ms Blake, 33, had an operation at the Whittington Hospital in Archway to remove part of her stomach to tackle her obesity. Poplar coroner's court heard how Ms Blake, who was also registered blind, opted for surgery after consultations at the hospital, hoping it would ease the chronic back pain that had left her wheelchair-bound.

She had the operation in January last year but she suffered complications and died in December.

Her weight had plunged to 10 stone in just 10 months, despite two further operations to try to rectify the problems.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as bowel obstruction, contributed to by malnutrition.

After the inquest, Ms Blake's father, Jim, 60, said she was "skin and bone" in the weeks before she died. "We've lost our daughter and our seven-year-old granddaughter, Chloe, has lost her mother. It seems to me the doctors don't know enough about the complications of this surgery. As far as I'm concerned they use people like guinea pigs and it has been at my daughter's expense."

Coroner Dr Andrew Reid was told the initial procedure passed without complications, but Ms Blake returned to hospital when she was unable to eat properly and suffered vomiting, stomach pains and depression.

Dugal Heath, the bariatric surgeon who carried out the operation, told the inquest four per cent of gastric bypass patients develop malnutrition.

Ms Blake had further surgery at the Whittington and then at University College Hospital in Bloomsbury, but died while doctors were planning to reverse the bypass, the inquest heard.

Her father warned against cosmetic use of weight-loss surgery. In 2008, TV presenter Fern Britton revealed "gastric band" surgery was behind her five-stone weight loss.

Mr Blake said: "People have this surgery and they don't know the full risks. It doesn't matter whether they have it for health or cosmetic reasons, it is dangerous."

The coroner recorded a narrative verdict, that Ms Blake died from "surgical and medical complications of bariatric surgery". Whittington Hospital said patients were made fully aware of the risks of bariatric surgery.

"The team here worked with Ms Blake and her health care providers to ensure she was ready for the operation."

UCLH said it "did everything it could to find a solution to her complicated set of medical problems".