An inquest has concluded that the failure of a private hospital to administer preventative medication likely contributed to the death of Lady Joan Branson, the 80-year-old wife of Sir Richard Branson. Lady Joan passed away on 24 November at the Lister Hospital in Chelsea, west London, which is owned and operated by HCA Healthcare.
The Westminster Coroner’s Court heard that Lady Joan died as a result of a pulmonary embolism, a sudden and potentially fatal blockage in a lung artery triggered by deep vein thrombosis. She had been admitted to the hospital on 17 November following a fall several weeks earlier on Necker Island, a private luxury island owned by her billionaire husband in the British Virgin Islands.
During the virtual inquest, Professor Fiona Wilcox, senior coroner for Inner West London, highlighted that Lady Joan was not given prophylactic anticoagulants despite being at a “very high risk of developing deep vein thrombosis”. The coroner concluded, “I do find her death would have likely been prevented and the lack of anticoagulation did cause or contribute to her death probably.”