Coroner's Finding: WERNER Cynthia Joy

76y · Female·colchicine toxicity

A 76-year-old woman with gout died from colchicine toxicity after being prescribed 500µg three times daily on 9 December 2010 for an acute attack. She developed diarrhoea from 15 December and died on 19 December with a potentially lethal blood colchicine level of 0.025mg/L. The coroner found no criticism of the treating GP or nursing home. However, the case highlights that colchicine's serious toxicity risk—including multi-organ failure—is not widely known in the medical community. Expert evidence showed prednisolone is preferred for acute gout. Discrepancies exist between MIMS and the Australian Medicine Handbook regarding colchicine dosing. The coroner recommended informing the medical community about colchicine toxicity risks and dosage ambiguities in published guidelines.