Hospital doctor admits professional misconduct over patient’s death after dispute with nurse about dislodged breathing tube

A hospital doctor has admitted professional misconduct over an incident in which a patient with meningitis suffered a fatal lack of oxygen to the brain following a dispute with nursing staff over whether a breathing tube had become dislodged.

Ilankathir Sathivel appeared before a medical inquiry to face a series of allegations over his treatment of a patient in February 2019 while working as a registrar anaesthetist at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown in Dublin.

The hearing before the Medical Council’s fitness-to-practise committee was told Dr Sathivel was making a number of admissions in relation to the care he provided to the 59-year-old male, identified only as Patient A, who had been admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit after being diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.

The committee was informed that Dr Sathivel accepted that his failure to have regard for the stated view of a clinical nurse manager, Rosanne Kenny, that Patient’s A endotracheal tube had become dislodged about 3.58am on February 24, 2019 constituted professional misconduct.

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Source: The Irish Independent, 29 May 2025