Medication error did not cause death of assault victim
Monday 19 October 2026 · 3 outlets · 3 reports · updated 
A coroner found that a two-hour medication error at Wellington Hospital did not contribute to the death of 45-year-old Edward Peters. After suffering a fatal brain bleed following a street bashing, Peters was mistakenly given metaraminol instead of a drug intended to lower blood pressure. The coroner ruled his brain injury was already non-survivable.
Key facts
4 facts
- Edward Anthony Peters died on 24 November 2018
- The coroner ruled the manner of death was homicide
- Erueti Wirihana was sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter
- The medication error involved metaraminol being used instead of labetalol
The full story
1 min read · 3 outlets
A coroner has ruled that a two-hour medication error in an intensive care unit did not cause or contribute to the death of Edward Anthony Peters. Coroner Ian Telford found that the 45-year-old had already suffered a catastrophic and non-survivable brain haemorrhage before the error occurred. The manner of death was determined to be homicide caused by complications from blunt force head trauma.
The error involved nursing staff discovering that metaraminol, a drug used to raise blood pressure, had been placed in a syringe driver labelled for labetalol, which is used to lower blood pressure. This mistake meant Peters received medication that increased his blood pressure for nearly two hours when clinicians intended to lower it. An expert concluded the error likely happened during the handover from the operating theatre to the ICU following emergency neurosurgery.
Peters died at Wellington Hospital on 24 November 2018, nine days after being attacked outside a tangihanga in Hastings. During the assault on 15 November 2018, Erueti Wirihana punched Peters and stomped on his head. Wirihana was later sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for manslaughter after admitting to the killing in the High Court at Napier.
Following an internal review, Health NZ replaced its syringe-driver labelling system with electronic drug display infusion devices and updated clinical handover procedures.
Compiled from reports by Stuff, NZ Herald and RNZ.