Mystery over woman's death from emaciation

An inquest at Hastings Law Courts into the death of Annie Ross on September 9 2010 could not identify why she steadily lost weight during the last two years of her life.

She had been in reasonable health for her age until 1996, according to husband Charles but lately complained of feeling out-of-sorts, nauseous, lethargic and increasingly tired, though still eating and drinking as normal.

She had been sent for an endoscopy, followed by a barium swallow, but neither showed up a definite result.

Mrs Ross was due to go for a MRI scan at hospital in September but didn’t go because she was not feeling up to it.

Her GP, Dr Rajesh Sharma, said there was no physical reason he could find why she was losing weight, while pathologist Mark Boxer who carried out the post mortem examination was also unable to pinpoint why it had happened.

Coroner Alan Craze returned a verdict of death by natural cause due to “idiopathic” emaciation, meaning the weight loss had happened spontaneously, or “arisen in herself”.

This was also the view of her husband who commented: “From the time of her death I have always said it was natural causes, because of her attitude and the pain she was in sometimes. You hear these pleas by people saying ‘I wish I was out of it’.

“I think on that particular day she gave up.”