Anaesthetic linked to hair transplant man's death

A father-of-two who died hours after starting to undergo a hair transplant procedure at a Turkish clinic might have suffered a rare complication as a result of being given a local anaesthetic, a coroner heard.

Martyn Latchman, 38, who had been a teacher at Goldington Academy in Bedford, died at an Istanbul hospital in July 2025.

He had earlier suffered a cardiac arrest after being numbed at the start of the procedure in the Dr Cinik Hair Transplant Center in Istanbul.

At an inquest at Ampthill Coroner's Court, Bedfordshire, on Wednesday, coroner Emma Whitting concluded the cause of Latchman's death was "unascertained", but in keeping with a condition called local anaesthetic systemic toxicity.

Latchman, whose address was recorded as Wybridge Close, Keysoe, Bedford, on Companies House website, had been assistant head and director of IT at Goldington Academy.

Whitting heard that Latchman had been born in Bridgend, near Swansea, and was married with two children.

She was told that he had travelled to Istanbul for the second part of a procedure - a transplant on the crown of his head.

Latchman had begun to convulse and then gone into cardiac arrest after being given a local anaesthetic, the inquest heard.

Whitting said that because Latchman had died abroad, "material" into his death was "very limited".

But a pathologist, who examined Latchman's body after it was returned to England, said local anaesthetic systemic toxicity - a "rare complication" - was a possible cause.

Whitting indicated that investigations into Latchman's death were continuing in Turkey.

Members of Latchman's family were at the inquest and Whitting was told that relatives had visited both the clinic and hospital in Istanbul.

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