Finding into death of B T

53y · Male·Complications of hypoxic brain injury secondary to mixed drug toxicity (methylamphetamine, benzodiazepines, metonitazene)

BT, a 53-year-old man with substance use disorder and mental health conditions, died from complications of hypoxic brain injury secondary to mixed drug toxicity (methylamphetamine, benzodiazepines, metonitazene). He injected an unregulated street drug mixture on 30 June 2023, suffered a prolonged seizure, was intubated and sedated, but sustained severe hypoxic brain injury. He was extubated after 16 days but remained severely neurologically impaired with persistent myoclonus and dysphagia. He declined further aggressive treatment and transitioned to palliative care, dying 16 days later. The coroner highlighted that access to drug checking services at the time could potentially have enabled informed decision-making about the substance's contents, though whether BT would have used such a service remains unknown. A Victorian drug checking service has since been established.