A woman with a long history of mental illness died in a Dublin hospital due to a rare reaction to a drug she received, an inquest jury has found. Mrs Catherine Soye (44), a mother of three, from Sundrive Park, Dublin, died last July in St Loman's Hospital where she had been treated for 24 years. Dublin City Coroner's Court heard there had been an increase in the numbers of "sudden unexplained deaths" in previously healthy patients taking normal dosages of antipsychotic drugs such as the one Mrs Soye received.
Dr Petrina Keane, a consultant psychiatrist at St Loman's, told the jury that concerns about these deaths had led the Royal College of Psychiatrists to state in 1994 that only recommended dosages of the drugs should be prescribed.
The dosage Mrs Soye received was well below that recommended. Dr Keane said antipsychotic drugs were widely used and had been of "great benefit" to many people.
The court heard that Mrs Soye was diagnosed when she was 19 as suffering from a mental disorder which led to swings from depression to elation. She was also a severe diabetic who administered her own insulin.
Mrs Soye was admitted to St Loman's on May 5th last because she was not responding to out-patient treatment and was finding it difficult to manage at home, said Dr Keane.
Dr Keane saw Mrs Soye on July 1st, the day before she died. Her depression had lifted and she was mildly elated. She said that as a result of Mrs Soye's condition, she stopped her anti-depressants and increased her dosage of the antipsychotic drug, Thioridazine.
Mrs Soye received only two doses of Thioridazine before her death. "It was a very modest dose and she had just begun to take it," said Dr Keane. She said Mrs Soye had taken the same drug over many years in much higher dosages.
At around 4.30 a.m. on July 2nd, Mrs Soye was found by a staff nurse on night duty at the hospital "in a collapsed state" in her bed. Efforts by medical staff to resuscitate her failed and she died at 5.10 a.m.
A pathologist's report read to the court said the level of Thioridazine in Mrs Soye's blood was "well within the therapeutic range".
The city coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, said there was "no question that Mrs Soye took her own life" and no evidence that her diabetes had contributed to her death. The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.