A highly flammable incontinence pad which contributed to the death of an elderly Dublin man is still in use in hospitals in the Eastern Health Board area and around the State, an inquest heard yesterday.
Mr Patrick Byrne (75), of Mill Road, Saggart, Co Dublin, suffered 36 per cent burns to the lower part of his body when he dropped a cigarette or matches on himself at Peamount Hospital on October 13th last year. He died at the burns unit of St James's Hospital on November 5th. Mr Byrne, a patient in St Ciaran's Unit at the hospital from the previous February, was found in the toilet area with his tracksuit bottoms on fire when a smoke alarm was activated.
The Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, returned a verdict of accidental death and said that in the public interest he would write to the Department of Health outlining the circumstances of Mr Byrne's death and the flammability of the incontinence pads.