'Death' doctor faces extradition

Mrs Leighton died at Staffordshire General Hospital in 1998

A doctor charged over the death of a patient faces extradition to Britain after she was arrested in the US.

Priya Ramnath left the UK in 1998, days after allegedly injecting Patricia Leighton, from Staffordshire, with adrenaline against colleagues' advice.

Manslaughter charges were brought against Dr Ramnath, 39, but the Crown Prosecution Service missed a deadline to apply for her extradition.

She was arrested in Lufkin, Texas, after new regulations were introduced.

'Without incident'

A Staffordshire Police spokesman said Dr Ramnath, who is originally from India, was taken into federal custody after her arrest outside a hospital in Lufkin, where she had been working as an anaesthetist.

"We are liaising closely with the CPS and, via the CPS, with the relevant US authorities in respect of extradition," the spokesman added.

The arrest was carried out by the US Marshals Service, which said mother-of-two Dr Ramnath had been in the Lufkin area for about six months.

A statement said: "Dr Ramnath was arrested without incident on a warrant from Great Britain."

Her lawyer said she had not known about the charge before she was taken into custody.

Mrs Leighton, 51, from Burntwood, was undergoing treatment for an infected bunion at Staffordshire General Hospital when she died on 22 July 1998.

She was monitored by an intensive care team because of a shortage of beds in other wards, but complications arose when her blood pressure fell and medics suspected septicaemia in her foot.

In 2004, a coroner ruled that she had been unlawfully killed.

The CPS began extradition proceedings in 2002 following a lengthy police investigation.

When it became clear the case would not be ready within five years of Mrs Leighton's death, the CPS suggested that a protective warrant be applied for, extending the time limit on extradition.

But the faxed instruction did not arrive in time.

The arrest of Dr Ramnath comes after measures were ratified allowing British subjects to be extradited from the US if the usual time limit has passed.