An 82-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease died after accidentally ingesting washing detergent, mistaking it for milk, an inquest has confirmed.
David Hayes from Bolton was admitted to hospital on April 16 after vomiting from drinking tea laced with the chemical. Doctors diagnosed him with pneumonitis, caused by the inhalation of detergent and stomach acid into his lungs. He died five days later.
Bolton Coroner’s Court ruled his death as accidental. “This had occurred when he had made a cup of tea at home and put washing detergent into the cup instead of milk after an apparent confusion,” Coroner Michael Pemberton said. “He had vomited following the ingestion and it is likely that he aspirated.”
Pemberton issued a formal warning to government bodies and charities, urging stricter packaging standards for household products. He noted that the detergent was stored in a bottle resembling a milk container, making it “easily accessible by a person with reduced capacity or dementia.”