A 23-year-old man died four months after he was diagnosed with cancer when he suffered a reaction to chemotherapy drugs

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Cancer drug reaction led to death

A 23-year-old man died four months after he was diagnosed with cancer
when he suffered a reaction to chemotherapy drugs, an inquest has heard.
Darren Elliot, from Warminster in Wiltshire, was having treatment for a
large tumour in his neck.

But an "abnormal reaction" to drugs at the Royal United Hospital in Bath
caused an infection.

This, in turn, caused massive bleeding in his lungs, leaving him
"drowning in his own blood".

Bristol Coroner's Court heard Mr Elliot was diagnosed with
naso-pharyngeal carcinoma - a rare form of cancer more usually seen in
China and Hong Kong - last August.
He was drowning in his own blood

He was admitted to the RUH, and given a course of chemotherapy, but
suffered an adverse reaction, which left him with sores around his
mouth.
His sister Stephanie Daniels said: "It was like someone had thrown acid
on his mouth. Inside it was also red raw. He couldn't speak and had to
communicate with pen and paper."
Dr Hugh Newman, who treated Mr Elliot, said: "He had an abnormal
reaction to a normal dose."
'Abrupt deterioration'
Mr Eliot's white blood cell and platelet count plummeted, leaving him
highly susceptible to infection, and he developed a fungal infection and
breathing difficulties.

Dr Timothy Cook, a consultant treating Mr Elliot on the afternoon of 2
November, said: "He had a very sudden and abrupt deterioration in his
condition.
"He was bleeding very extensively from his windpipe very rapidly. He was
drowning in his own blood."
Darren's own body appears to have reacted quite abnormally to the
chemotherapy

Tony Woodburn
Avon deputy coroner

Doctors battled for more than an hour to save Mr Elliot but were unable
to resuscitate him.

Recording a verdict of death by natural causes, Avon deputy coroner Tony
Woodburn said: "The very rarity of this cancer and the unexpected
reaction to the treatment led to his demise.
"The problem came in the chemotherapy itself. Darren's own body appears
to have reacted quite abnormally to the chemotherapy that he had been
given."
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Elliot's family said they were angry that
the hospital told them he had a good chance of recovering.

His mother Flora said: "We never really got a chance to come to terms
with what was happening and talk to him about it - they built our hopes
up and we were told he had a good chance of getting better."
Acting director of nursing at the RUH Carol de Halle said: "On behalf of
the Royal United Hospital, I would like to convey my very deepest
sympathies to Darren's family.

"Hospital staff did all they could to support

.