Finding into death of Elanur Koc
Deceased
ELANUR KOC
Demographics
2y, female
Date of death
2008-05-24
Finding date
2011-04-15
Cause of death
Pneumonia in a toddler with enlarged tonsils and presence of codeine in blood
AI-generated summary
A 2-year-old girl died from pneumonia with enlarged tonsils and significant amounts of codeine detected in her blood and tissues. She had a history of recurrent throat infections and was awaiting a scheduled tonsillectomy. On the evening of 23 May 2008, she developed a runny nose and mild fever, and her mother gave her Panamax and/or Dimetapp cough syrup. She was found unresponsive the following morning and died despite resuscitation attempts. Autopsy revealed codeine in blood, urine, liver, and stomach contents, plus morphine in all hair segments. The codeine source was unexplained—the mother denied administering it, and neither her GP nor specialist had prescribed codeine-containing medication. Codeine is contraindicated in children under 10 due to risk of respiratory depression. The coroner concluded a parent likely administered the codeine to relieve symptoms but found insufficient evidence to determine its role in death. Clinical lessons: codeine is contraindicated in young children; cough suppressants may mask respiratory infection symptoms; unexplained medication sources require investigation.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- enlarged tonsils
- upper respiratory tract infection
- codeine exposure (source and role unclear)
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