Coroner's Finding: DS
Deceased
DS
Demographics
46y, male
Date of death
2016-07-20
Finding date
2019-01-21
Cause of death
Ethanol (alcohol) and prescription drug toxicity
AI-generated summary
A 46-year-old man with chronic alcohol addiction and a history of epilepsy and insomnia died from combined ethanol and prescription drug toxicity. In the three weeks before death, his alcohol consumption escalated to three bottles of whiskey daily, partly attributed to pain from a finger injury. He was found on the floor in a heavily intoxicated state on 19 July 2016 and discovered deceased the following morning, face down. Post-mortem blood alcohol levels were between 0.316–0.482 g/100ml, with therapeutic levels of diazepam and clonazepam detected. The coroner concluded that the combination of central nervous system depressants (alcohol and prescribed medications) caused fatal toxicity. Despite regular medical treatment and counselling for alcohol addiction since 2003, the deceased was unable to overcome his addiction. This case highlights the critical dangers of combining alcohol with CNS-depressant medications and the challenges in managing severe alcohol use disorder.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Chronic alcohol addiction with escalating consumption
- Combination of alcohol with CNS-depressant prescription medications (diazepam and clonazepam)
- Recent finger injury leading to increased pain and alcohol use
- Inadequate management or control of alcohol addiction despite long-term treatment
Full text
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