'Doctors took my DNA without my consent while I was in a Covid coma'

A man has accused a hospital of taking his DNA without his consent while he was comatose.

Stuart Brown, 57, was admitted to Yeovil District Hospital's intensive care unit in November 2021 when he contracted Covid.

While he was in a coma, his wife Annette was called by the hospital to obtain consent to take his DNA.

It was for the GenOMMIC research study - a UK-wide project aiming to find genetic factors that determine outcomes in critical illness in more than 23,000 adults.

Mrs Brown said: "I fully appreciated it was a national study, but the benefit that swung the balance of him doing it was that he would potentially benefit.

"The suggestion was that he could potentially find out about any genetic factor that would predispose him more to being affected by Covid."

Mr Brown subsequently withdrew from the study months later after being discharged home and his DNA sample was destroyed. To maintain the integrity of the study, his genomic sequence was kept anonymous.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has maintained patients were properly informed but admitted "deviation from protocol" in gaining consent to take DNA from seven patients.

It told the BBC there were two deviations from protocol in the way Mr Brown's consent was obtained, but it concluded "none of these deviations mean that proper informed consent was not obtained before the sample was taken".

A letter from a hospital solicitor in response to Mr Brown’s complaint said: "As to what harm you have suffered as a result of your DNA being taken and included in the study however, this appears to be limited to the physical act of taking the blood sample without consent."

The solicitor dismissed Mr Brown's claim he had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, saying: "We have not seen any evidence that meets the diagnostic criteria and links the condition you allege you suffer from the taking of blood sample without consent as opposed to your illness with Covid and the circumstances surrounding this.

"While our [hospital] trust client is very sorry that there were deviations from the protocols for taking consent, our investigations find that liability is not established."

The University of Edinburgh, which is in charge of the GenOMMIC research study, said: "We are respectful of participants' right to withdraw their consent at any time and we can confirm that all procedures relating to the giving of consent, and its withdrawal, have been correctly followed for all participants in this study."

Mr Brown accepted £3,000 compensation from the hospital trust.