Man, 81, with history of morphine addiction and several health conditions was found unresponsive at home
Morphine had first been prescribed 15 years ago for chronic back pain
An 81-year-old man with a history of morphine addiction and with a number of health conditions was found dead at home.
An inquest at Blackpool Town Hall heard that Sydney Henshaw was found unresponsive at his home in Bowness Avenue, St Annes when a carer made a regular call in March.
Consultant pathologist Dr Darek Golka found at a post mortem that the primary cause of death was cardiorespiratory failure caused by myocarditis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease .
Secondary causes which would have contributed to the death were morbid obesity and morphine toxicity, the inquest heard, while Dr Golka said he also found evidence of rheumatic fever.
At a pre-inquest review of the case, it was outlined that GP records for Mr Henshaw showed he had overdosed on morphine three times since 2018.
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He had been prescribed the medication for several years for chronic back pain to be taken twice a day, initially in liquid form and later in the form of tablets.
The inquest heard that after his most recent hospital stay following a morphine overdose, his access to the medication had been restricted, including supervision by carers who visited him twice daily to also prepare his meals.
A toxicity test carried following his death found the level of morphine in his system to be high enough to have possibly proved fatal, but Dr Golka felt in his case it was a contributing factor rather than the main cause of death.
The pathologist did add, however, that the presence of the morphine was likely to have increased the effect of the cardiorespiratory failure which was the main cause of death.
Dr Golka added that it was not possible to know whether the high level of morphine in Mr Henshaw’s system was due to a large amount having been taken recently or his long use of it under prescription,
Blackpool and Fylde assistant coroner returned a narrative conclusion that Mr Henshaw died of naturally occurring disease and morphine toxicity, with morbid obesity.