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Patients in 'drug-induced comas'

(BBC 08/06/2009)

Elderly patients were left in "drug-induced comas" after being over-prescribed painkillers and sedatives, a General Medical Council panel heard. Dr Jane Barton is accused of a series of failings in her treatment of 12 patients at Hampshire's Gosport War Memorial Hospital in the late 1990s. The hearing follows an inquest into 10 patients' deaths which found drugs to be a factor in five cases. Dr Barton admitted the dosage range for 10 patients had been too wide.

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Death doctor prosecution probed

(BBC 04/06/2009)

UK police are investigating how a German doctor who gave a lethal overdose to a Cambridgeshire man was convicted in Germany. Dr Daniel Ubani gave David Gray, 70, 10 times too much painkiller while working for a Cambridgeshire health trust. Police in the UK were conducting their own investigation into the death, when they found he had received a suspended sentence in Germany for negligence. He will not face a British trial, so prosecutors are to discuss the case.

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Internet drug warning after death

(BBC 21/04/2009)

A coroner has warned about the dangers of buying prescription drugs over the internet after the death of a 22-year-old woman from an overdose. Amy Pain was found dead in bed by her father, the Archdeacon of Monmouth, the Venerable Richard Pain at their home in the Monmouthshire town on 12 October. Gwent coroner David Bowen said it was likely Miss Pain accidentally took an overdose to try to relieve period pain.

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Drugs led to deaths of patients

(BBC 20/04/2009)

Five patients who died at a hospital in Hampshire in the late 1990s were prescribed too much medication, an inquest jury has ruled. Three of those patients were given inappropriate medication, the inquest at Portsmouth Coroner's Court found. The inquest panel of five women and three men looked at the deaths of 10 patients at the Gosport War Memorial Hospital between 1996 and 1999. The families are now calling for a criminal investigation to be launched.

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