Family of scientist who suffocated in hospital lab say 'lessons must be learnt'

The family of a scientist who suffocated in a hospital laboratory that filled with nitrogen today called for lessons to be learned from his tragic death.

Damian Bowen, 32, was alone as he used liquid nitrogen to carry out experiments on HIV blood samples, unaware that the ventilation system to his lab had been switched off.

The lab was connected to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in a building shared with Imperial College London.

This week, more than six years after his death, Imperial and the NHS foundation trust which employed Mr Bowen were fined £70,000 and £80,000 respectively after admitting health and safety breaches.

His father Glenn said: “There needs to be practices put in place to make sure people are always working in pairs. I’d hate to think of someone else losing their child over a similar thing.”

Mr Bowen, who lived in Hackney, dreamed of finding a cure for HIV after studying genetics at Leeds and medical science at Keele University, his father said.

On the night of his death on October 26, 2011, he was wearing a visor and protective clothing but nitrogen escaped and displaced the oxygen in the room.

He suffocated in the nitrogen-rich atmosphere, and his body was discovered in the lab the following day.

At an inquest last year, a jury criticised “lax enforcement of standard operating procedures” at the hospital, as well as “insufficient control, unclear responsibility” which led to Mr Bowen’s death.

His father said the family had not received a formal apology from the trust or the hospital, and believed individuals who should have been held responsible had not been punished.

Mr Bowen’s mother Linda said: “I suppose that I was hoping that they would be named and shamed. They got fined, but that doesn’t mean anything to us.”

The two organisations pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching a general duty to an employee. They were both ordered to pay £23,000 in costs.

Imperial said it took safety extremely seriously and that although the court had not suggested the college had caused Mr Bowen’s death, it had updated procedures.

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital said it had reviewed its systems to avoid such a situation happening again.