NHS Trust apologises for "sub-standard treatment" received by MF DOOM

An NHS Trust has apologised for the "not to standard" treatment received by MF DOOM, leading up to his death on October 31, 2022.

MF DOOM, whose real name was Dumile Daniel Thompson, died suddenly three years ago, after being hospitalised with an adverse reaction to blood pressure medication at St. James' University Hospital, Leeds.

Dumile who was already suffering from several conditions such as kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and Hepatitis B - died due to a lack of oxygen supplied to his brain after suffering from a severe allergic reaction to blood pressure medication that had caused his "throat and tongue to swell."

In an inquest into his death, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust acknowledged there had been “missed opportunities” during his treatment for angioedema, which is sudden swelling of a body part often caused by an allergic reaction.

According to The Guardian, the assistant coroner Janine Wolstenholme said "a care plan drawn up in hospital was not sufficiently detailed" and that doctors were given a “false reassurance” about MF DOOM's condition when his health appeared to improve a few days prior.

While his reaction was rare, Wolstenholme acknowledged that angioedema was more common in smokers and people of African-Caribbean descent, both of which Dumile was.

Chief Medical Officer of the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, Dr. Hamish McLure, said in a statement: "I would like to offer our sincere condolences to Daniel’s family, friends and fans at this difficult time.

"I apologise that the care he received was not to the standard we would expect. Following his sad death we undertook a serious incident investigation and the report has been shared with Daniel’s family.

"As a result we have put in place a number of actions and the wider learning from what happened is to be used as a teaching topic in a number of different clinical specialities. We also support the coroner’s recommendation for clearer national guidance and awareness in this area."

Daniel Dumile was born in London and raised in Long Island, New York. Dumile had begun DJing by third grade and started performing under the name Zev Love X by his late teens. He first started off as part of the politically-charged rap trip KMD with his brother, who was tragically killed in an accident two years later.

Following his brother's death, Dumille stepped away from public life and music only to re-emerge in the late 1990s at an open mic event in Manhattan where he performed, unannounced, wearing a stocking over his face. The mask modelled after the Marvel villain Doctor Doom would then become his signature and most notable trademark.

'Madvillainy' marked DOOM’s first entry in the Billboard Top 200, DOOM also notched up guest-appearances on tracks by Gorillaz, the Avalanches and BadBadNotGood, along with Wilma Archer (and was working on an EP with Flying Lotus when he died).

His talent as a lyricist was unquestioned with his distinctive style defined by single-syllable rhymes - he rewrote the rules of rap with his disjointed scattered rhymes and sampled clips taken from unheard sources. His influence has been far-reaching and clearly evident in the works of Tyler the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, Westside Gunn to name a few.

Following his death, friends of MF DOOM successfully campaigned to have a street named after him in New York City, KMD-MF DOOM WAY in the City's Long Beach area, nearby where the rapper grew up.

Vee Pandey is Mixmag's Digital Trainee, follow her on Twitter