Finding into death of Abdul El Sayed
Deceased
Carly Morse, Thomas Vale, Michael Hodgkinson, Abdul El Sayed
Demographics
unknown
Date of death
2024-06-24
Finding date
2025-04-17
Cause of death
Toxicity to protonitazene
AI-generated summary
Four people died from protonitazene toxicity on 24 June 2024 after inhaling what they believed was cocaine but which was adulterated with protonitazene, an extremely potent synthetic opioid (100 times more potent than heroin). The deceased—Carly Morse (42), Thomas Vale (32), Michael Hodgkinson (37), and Abdul El Sayed (17)—all became unresponsive within minutes of ingestion in an unsafe environment where no one remained conscious to call emergency services or administer naloxone. The case highlights critical harm reduction gaps: the unpredictability of illicit drug composition, the extreme potency of emerging novel synthetic opioids, and the need for accessible drug testing services, naloxone availability, and public awareness of nitazene risks. Key preventive measures identified include drug checking services, nitazene test strips, and wider naloxone distribution to high-risk populations and community settings.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Adulteration of illicit cocaine with protonitazene
- Ingestion of drugs from same contaminated batch in unsafe environment
- No person remaining conscious to call emergency services or administer naloxone
- Extreme potency of protonitazene (100 times more potent than heroin)
- Lack of awareness of nitazene contamination in illicit drug markets
- Absence of drug checking or testing services at point of purchase
Coroner's recommendations
- The Department of Health consider the effectiveness of nitazene test strips and whether they can be made available to the community as a measure to reduce unintentional overdose
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 —