A MAN with a heart condition died after a fall at his home, an inquest heard.

David Scott, from Kingsclere, fell backwards on May 24, suffering broken ribs that led to a punctured lung.

The 73-year-old was taken to Basingstoke hospital where he died the next day.

An inquest at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard Mr Scott had long suffered from a heart condition, for which he took Warfarin, a blood-thinning drug.

A post-mortem also revealed that he suffered from cirrhosis of the liver, and both conditions were found to be contributory factors in his death.

His wife Merle Scott told the inquest that she had taken him to the hospital the day before his fall, because he was feeling unwell and had trouble walking.

He was discharged from the hospital later, the inquest heard, and returned home.

Mrs Scott said: “At 6pm on Sunday I decided to cut the grass.

“I went to start it and I heard him call, ‘Help’.

“He had fallen over backwards and I went to get peas and ice and put it on his body.”

She said that her husband was able to get up, but she decided to call the ambulance at around 11pm when he fell back in bed.

The inquest heard that doctors did not notice that Mr Scott had bleeding on the lungs as his blood level readings were being masked by his cirrhosis, and they were concentrating on his heart condition.
But Andrew Bradley, coroner for north east Hampshire, said: “One of the effects of Warfarin is that when you’re cut you bleed and it is difficult to stop. When he is in hospital he is effectively in a terminal condition.”

He recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.