Patient 'may have been given excess methadone' before death

Published on Thursday 23 April 2009 22:08

A NURSE at a hospital where a young man died after a dose of methadone admitted he may have been given too much of the heroin substitute, an inquiry heard yesterday.

Kieran Nichol, 20, was being treated for depression and addiction to valium at the Castle Craig Hospital in the Borders in December 2005.

A fellow patient at the private hospital told a fatal accident inquiry at Edinburgh Sheriff Court he became concerned that Mr Nichol was "intoxicated" and reported it to staff.

Ross Dixon, 32, said the day before his death Mr Nichol's speech was slurred, he had pin-point pupils, flushed skin and was slow to answer questions.

"I asked him what he had been on and he said methadone. He had been given it in the hospital," Mr Dixon said.

"He volunteered he was in for using heroin. He had been using two score bags a day."

He said Mr Nichol's condition appeared to worsen throughout the day: "At every meal he became increasingly intoxicated after he had had his medication. He told me they had given him methadone."

Mr Dixon was so concerned about Mr Nichol he spoke to nurse William Wood.

"I said 'Kieran's in a state. Is it possible he's been given too much methadone?' and he said 'Yes'," Mr Dixon said.

The inquiry continues.