{
  "id": 6536191,
  "title": "Failures ‘contributed to’ death of Richard Branson’s wife",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/failures-contributed-to-death-of-richard-bransons-wife",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-10T01:56:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/failures-contributed-to-death-of-richard-bransons-wife/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The inquest concluded that the death of Lady Joan Branson, wife of Sir Richard Branson, was partially due to the private hospital's failure to provide preventative medication. Lady Joan, 80 at the time of her death, suffered a cardiac arrest at Lister Hospital in Chelsea, London after being admitted following a fall on Necker Island in November last year. The coroner's court heard that she was not administered prophylactic anticoagulants despite being at a \"very high risk\" of developing deep vein thrombosis. It was determined that her immobility and fracture were the primary risk factors for the resulting pulmonary embolism. The hospital's admitting doctor, Dr. Basir Kunduzi, admitted to not completing a bleeding risk assessment on the day of her admission. Lady Joan's death prompted him to \"reflect on my role as a doctor\" and the importance of \"good communication between team members.\" Professor Fiona Wilcox, the senior coroner, stated that Lady Joan's death was not a result of neglect and that there was no absence of treatment. Sir Richard Branson paid tribute to his wife, describing her as the \"shining star around which our family's universe has always orbited.\"",
  "summary": "A private hospital's failure to provide preventative medication contributed to the death of Lady Joan Branson, an inquest has concluded.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}