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Coroner to demand answers over prescription drug death

Christine Benson (bottom) pictured before her death with sister Gemma.
Christine Benson (bottom) pictured before her death with sister Gemma. Christine Benson (bottom) pictured before her death with sister Gemma.

A CORONER has pledged to contact health chiefs to highlight concerns about how a woman, who died of a prescription drugs overdose, was prescribed powerful morphine pills before her death.

Christine Benson, of Ardmore Avenue in Dundonald, died in June 2013 as a result of pneumonia associated with morphine toxicity.

The 34-year-old was found unconscious by a friend hours after having complained of feeling ill at her home.

At an inquest in Belfast yesterday, relatives demanded to know why the mother-of-one had been prescribed morphine despite medical practitioners being aware that she was an addict who “abused prescription drugs”.

The court heard how Ms Benson at one stage was consuming up to 96 co-codamol tablets every day, and at the time on her death was being prescribed six different types of medication, including the morphine that contributed to her death.

Her GP, Dr Helen Brown, outlined Ms Benson’s medical history, which Coroner Suzanne Anderson described as a “long history of prescription drug abuse”.

The dead woman's sister Gemma Benson said Christine would take her morphine prescription in one go at weekends.

“Every single weekend she abused them. She didn’t need them; she was addicted,” she told the court, before demanding to know why her sister was given what she claimed was the same amount of morphine as recommended “for a cancer patient”.

After being told by the GP that she could not provide the answer, Ms Benson asked: “Who can then? It’s hard to control my emotions. This isn’t just a court case – this is my sister.”

Admitting she was aware Ms Benson was “addicted” to tablets, Dr Brown said a decision was taken to switch the prescription from co-codamol tablets to morphine as: “It’s a safer way to deliver pain relief.”

The inquest heard the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) carried out a Serious Adverse Incident (SAI) report into the Greenway GP Practice in east Belfast where Ms Benson was a patient.

As a result of the probe a number of recommendations were made including having doctors' practices share information about vulnerable patients.

Concluding the hearing, the coroner said she would write to the HSCB to highlight concerns still held by Ms Benson's family.

The coroner also said she would recommend the suggestion made in court by Gemma Benson that GPs should further consider issuing daily prescriptions to prevent overdosing.

“This would be especially important for people like your sister who struggled with addiction to prescription drugs,” the coroner added.