An inquest into his death was opened on Friday, August 29, at East London Coroner’s Court in Walthamstow.
Coroner’s officer Jean Smyth said: “On May 2, 2025, Keith Lamb had a sudden collapse. The London Ambulance Service attended and he was initially alert but shortly after went into cardiac arrest.”
Mr Lamb was taken to Queen’s Hospital where he died later that day.
A post-mortem held on May 20 gave his cause of death as pulmonary embolism with secondary causes of obesity and cocaine use.
“His family raised concerns as Mr Lamb attended Queen’s Hospital on two occasions shortly before his death and have concerns over misdiagnosis,” Mrs Smyth said.
Coroner Ian Wade KC said: “It is clear Mr Lamb’s death was completely unexpected and at the age of 39, really quite unusual on the face of it.”
Whilst the pathologist gave a natural cause of death, Mr Wade said his death was “potentially avoidable”.
He told the court that documents showed Mr Lamb attended hospital “not once but twice in the 28 days prior reporting pain in the chest or pain in his calf”.
“It seems to me that there could be a failure to recognise that Keith Lamb was suffering from deep vein thrombosis in the leg, that often being the cause of pulmonary embolism.”
Mr Wade said he was therefore satisfied that an investigation and inquest should be opened.
The full inquest is scheduled for March next year.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Queen’s, declined to comment.
