Doctor will face charge
A woman doctor accused of killing a Burntwood mother undergoing a routine operation to remove a bunion will be brought back from Texas, in order to face a manslaughter charge in the UK.
A woman doctor accused of killing a Burntwood mother undergoing a routine operation to remove a bunion will be brought back from Texas, in order to face a manslaughter charge in the UK.
Anaesthetist Priya Ramnath, aged 39, is alleged to have injected Patricia Leighton, pictured, with a lethal dose of adrenalin at Staffordshire General Hospital in 1998.
The mother-of-two, who denies manslaughter, left her job and moved to the US within days of the incident.
Ramnath waived her right to an extradition hearing at the US district court in Lufkin, Texas yesterday, and will be brought back to Staffordshire in the custody of UK authorities. A date for her return is yet to be set.
Today, daughter Debbie Leighton-Newton said: "Obviously in some ways it's a mixed bag of emotions, but we're really pleased. We found out last night and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning, I still can't believe it."
A coroner ruled in 2004 that Mrs Leighton was unlawfully killed after hearing that Ramnath had injected adrenalin against her colleagues' advice when her blood pressure fell.
The doctor, who is originally from India, originally escaped prosecution because the Crown Prosecution Service missed a five-year deadline to apply for her extradition by three days.
The subsequent introduction of new laws meant extradition was once again a possibility, and Ramnath was arrested in November.
