Finding into death of Caitlin-Lei Alaya
Deceased
Caitlin-Lei Alaya
Demographics
44y, female
Date of death
2018-10-30
Finding date
2020-01-29
Cause of death
Combined drug toxicity (elevated pregabalin, temazepam, oxazepam, ibuprofen, meloxicam)
AI-generated summary
Caitlin-Lei Alaya, a 44-year-old woman with fibromyalgia, PTSD, depression and suicidal ideation, died from combined drug toxicity (elevated pregabalin, temazepam, ibuprofen, meloxicam). She survived a suicide attempt on 27 October 2018 and was discharged after psychiatric assessment. She died between 30 October–3 November 2018. Clinical lessons: (1) The coroner noted concerns about dispensing multiple prescriptions for Lyrica and Temazepam within short timeframes without apparent coordination between prescribers; (2) SafeScript real-time prescription monitoring, newly available in October 2018, should have been used to identify potential overprescribing and drug interactions; (3) Post-discharge follow-up after suicide attempt appears inadequate; (4) Regulation 17 of Victoria's Drugs Regulations requires doctors to ensure therapeutic need before prescribing—SafeScript use should be considered mandatory even before April 2020 compliance date. No direct medical error identified but prescribing coordination and monitoring gaps evident.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Multiple prescriptions for Lyrica (pregabalin) dispensed within 17 days without apparent prescriber coordination
- Multiple prescriptions for Temazepam dispensed within 12 days
- Absence of real-time prescription monitoring at time of prescribing
- Limited coordination between multiple treating doctors
- Recent suicide attempt with ongoing suicidal ideation and depression
- Fibromyalgia causing chronic pain and functional impairment
- Social stressors and family pressures
- History of trauma, domestic violence and mental health issues
Coroner's recommendations
- Victoria Police review and update policies and procedures pertaining to welfare checks to ensure the inadequacies detailed in the finding are prevented in the future
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —