27-year-old died from malnutrition due to severe ME, inquest finds

A young woman died from malnutrition because of severe ME, a coroner has ruled – at the end of a ten day inquest in Exeter.

Maeve Boothby-O’Neill, who was 27, had suffered with ME for more than 10 years, before she died in October 2021.

Her mother told the hearing she believed her daughter’s death had been preventable – while other witnesses spoke of the severe shortage of specialist treatment and the “outdated” views some doctors had about the condition.

In a statement the Department of Health said “Maeve and her family were forced to battle the disease alongside the healthcare system which repeatedly misunderstood and dismissed her.”