Painkillers have may contributed to woman’s death

Pain killers may have contributed to woman’s death


Rowan Gallagher

AN inquest held before the East Mayo Coroner last week heard that pain killers may have caused the untimely death of a 46-year-old woman,
Lorraine Farrell of Upper Shraugh, Carracastle, was taking the pills due to an injury to her back and could have contributed to her death on January 9, of this year.
Dr Fadel Bennani, Consultant Pathologist at Mayo General Hospital, stated that the woman died of natural causes but suggested that strong pain killers could have been a contributing factor in the condition that lead to her death.
Ms Farrell had been on medication due to injuries she had sustained to her back a numbers of years earlier and often needed to sleep upright on a couch to stem the pain.
The Consultant Pathologist stated that the painkillers she was on needed to be always taken with food or even a glass of milk and that in certain circumstances anti-acids also needed to be taken to counteract the problems associated with pills.
He concluded that the intake of alcohol with the pills could have been seriously detrimental to the stomach.
Ms Farrell was found at 9.30am on January 9 of this year by Joseph Murphy, a resident in the the house she was living in. She wasn’t breathing at the time and emergency services were called, they applied the defibrillator but were unsuccessful in their attempts to resuscitate her.
Ms Farrell died of infection to her abdominal area due to a perforated chronic gastric ulcer that could have been aggravated by the painkillers.
The coroner, Mr Patrick O’Connor, thanked the Gardaí involved for their care and understanding in such a sensitive matter.