Inquest concludes mum-of-one, from Sandwich, died from a cardiac event after taking a chemotherapy drug
06:06, 23 April 2021
updated: 19:50, 23 April 2021
A mum died after taking a chemotherapy drug, an inquest has heard.
Claudine Chart, 38, died five days after she began treatment for cancer after suffering an extremely rare toxic reaction to the medication.
She was found dead at her home in Sandown Road, Sandwich, an inquest heard on Tuesday.
North East Kent area coroner Joanne Andrews said in her conclusion: "Claudine Chart died having been receiving chemotherapy treatment for bowel cancer.
"At post mortem it was found that she died as a result of a cardiac event caused by the chemotherapy, which carries a small but known risk of cardiac complication."
The inquest, at the Archbishop's Palace in Maidstone, heard that the cause of death was fluorouracil toxicity. Fluorouracil is a chemotherapy medication.
Ms Chart, a physiotherapist and mother-of-one, died on August 22 last year.
"She died as a result of a cardiac event caused by the chemotherapy." Coroner Joanne Andrews
A hearing, on March 8, was told that Ms Chart had died five days after she began the treatment.
Pathologist Dr Nipin Bagla then said he believed the death had been sudden but that it was uncommon.
Oncologist Dr Rakesh Raman said at that hearing that the plan had been to treat Ms Chart with combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy and he told her of the possible side effects.
Her treatment began with radiotherapy in hospital, on August 17, and she took the chemotherapy medication at home.
East Kent Hospitals Trust has been approached for a comment.
Lynn Daly, senior regional media manager for Cancer Research UK, said after the inquest: “Cancer survival has doubled since the 1970s due to advances in treatment brought about through research, though sadly the disease remains one of the leading causes of death in the UK.
“Today, two in four people with cancer survive for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK’s ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, three in four people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years.
“When it comes to treatment options, doctors will always take into account the risks of any treatment before offering them to make sure that the potential benefits outweigh the risks to the patient."
An online fundraising page was set up a month after Ms Chart's death by her friend Laura Collins for the charity Beating Bowel Cancer.
She stressed that Ms Chart was being treated for non-advanced cancer and that she had been concerned that the younger people were not being screened soon enough.
It was hoped supporting the charity would help change this.
The GoFundMe page by this week had raised £4,261.
You can donate through the link gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memory-of-claudine-chart
