Coroner's warning following opioid-related deaths

Dr Ciarán MacLoughlin said he was “very sad” to see a number of these cases come before him on Monday and noted that opioids were being abused by people in receipt of them legitimately, by prescription, and by those who were purchasing them illegally on the streets.

“If taken in ignorance, people are not aware that they can, if combined with other drugs, have a synergistic effect – or if taken with alcohol, that can also have a synergistic effect – and as we’ve seen, the outcome can be fatal.

“Doctors who are prescribing these drugs need to be made aware that we are seeing a number of this type of incident,” said Dr MacLoughlin.

This came after the Coroner closed the inquests of three men who all died following opioid abuse.

In the first case, Dr MacLoughlin heard how Niall Caden (43) from Renmore was found collapsed by waiting staff from the King’s Head Bar and Restaurant on the Old Malt Lane in Galway City when they heard a bang against the window.

The inquest heard evidence from Paul Folan, a friend of Mr Caden, that the deceased had been drinking on the day of his death prior to his collapse. Mr Folan said Mr Caden appeared to be asleep on the ground on Old Malt Lane when he arrived at the scene.

Jason McCarthy, who described himself as a friend of Mr Caden going back 22 years, drove into the city centre to assist. He said Mr Caden was “snoring” on the ground but that he and Paul Folan managed to get Mr Caden walking to the car.

When they arrived at Mr McCarthy’s house, Mr Caden was left asleep in the car. Mr McCarthy said he had checked on Mr Caden a number of times throughout the night but at 1.20am, he found him in an unresponsive state and had his wife call an ambulance.

Mr Caden was taken to UHG where he later died following failed attempts to resuscitate him.

The pathologist’s report stated that Mr Caden had gone into cardiac arrest. A tablet that was found in Mr Caden’s possession was sent to the State Laboratory for testing and was found to have been an Oxycodone tablet – an opioid.

Reading into evidence the post mortem examination findings, Dr MacLoughlin said Mr Caden had “lethal levels” of oxycodone in his blood and a blood alcohol reading of 240mg per cent.

“Oxycodone is a prescription medication but it is available on the street with a street name of ‘Oxycotton’. It’s very addictive and we’ve, in the past, had at least one death in the city with this drug,” said Dr MacLoughlin.

Giving a verdict of death by misadventure, Dr MacLoughlin said the cause of death was respiratory depression due to the combined effects of alcohol and opioid overdose.

“It was a reckless thing to do and the effects, unfortunately, resulted in his death. It was not an accident; it was misadventure which is when somebody does something quite risky and unfortunately, that risk materialises – that risk caused his death,” said the Coroner.

Dr MacLoughlin offered his condolences to Mr Caden’s family and to his friends, whom he said had acted responsibly on the night of his death and who were not aware of the seriousness of his condition.

(Photo: Coroner Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin) This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read it in full, see this week's Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.