Elderly Swede dies after swallowing his dentures
A 94-year-old man from Lindesberg in central Sweden died after caregivers failed to discover his set of false teeth had been lodged in his throat for several days.
The man lived in an elderly care facility and hadn’t eaten for a week when he was taken to Lindesberg hospital with a suspected respiratory infection, writes the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper.
By the time the man arrived at the hospital he was unconscious. He was give antibiotics. It was only when hospital personnel began to examine the man’s mouth that they discovered his dentures were stuck in his throat.
The man died the following day.
Bengt Jakobsson, a doctor at the hospital, believes that the fake teeth likely played a role in the man’s death.
The case has now been reported to Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).
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The man lived in an elderly care facility and hadn’t eaten for a week when he was taken to Lindesberg hospital with a suspected respiratory infection, writes the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper.
By the time the man arrived at the hospital he was unconscious. He was give antibiotics. It was only when hospital personnel began to examine the man’s mouth that they discovered his dentures were stuck in his throat.
The man died the following day.
Bengt Jakobsson, a doctor at the hospital, believes that the fake teeth likely played a role in the man’s death.
The case has now been reported to Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).
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