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UK: Cannabis experiment helped kill OAP, says coroner
The Times Friday 16 Dec 2005 The family of a woman who died in hospital after developing mental problems while taking an experimental cannabis-based treatment today called for trials of the drug to be stopped. The call came after a coroner decided that a reaction to the drug Sativex was at least a "significant contributory factor" in the development of the illness which killed 69-year-old Rene Anderson. A week-long inquest in Sheffield has heard how Mrs Anderson began to exhibit bizarre symptoms on the day she began taking Sativex in September 2003. She was taking part in a trial conducted by the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, in Sheffield, and funded by Diabetes UK, into whether cannabis-based treatments could help relieve the extreme pain experienced by diabetic neuropathy sufferers. The court heard that hours after taking her first dose she developed "disturbed behaviour", telling her family there were X-ray cameras in the house, that the police had planted drugs at her home and that officers were circling in a helicopter. Three days later the level of the drug was reduced after Mrs Anderson’s family contacted the hospital to say she was "confused and intoxicated". Four weeks later, after taking the drug for 28 days, her family reported that "she was not the same person" and Mrs Anderson was admitted to hospital. After her admission to the Royal Hallamshire her physical condition dramatically worsened. She became immobile and suffered a range of problems. The inquest heard Mrs Anderson died of acute kidney failure on March 3, 2004 at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital where she had gone for renal treatment. Today, the Sheffield coroner, Chris Dorries, delivered a narrative verdict. He said: "On the balance of probabilities, an idiosyncratic reaction to a trial drug (either alone or in combination with other medications) was at least a significant contributory factor to the initiation of this illness." He said it was still unclear why her condition continued and got worse after she stopped taking Sativex after admission to hospital. Mr Dorries told the court: "I can find nothing to suggest that there has been another specific intervening cause, but accept that there is no known science upon which a clear finding could be made of a connection between the trial drug and the continuation of the illness beyond the point at which the compounds have passed from the body." He found that she died from kidney failure due to Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome "following resolving pneumonia due to immobility arising from toxic brain syndrome". Following the inquest, Mrs Anderson’s daughter, Jacquie Sadler, called for any end to trials of Sativex, which is not yet licensed in the UK, but has been granted a license in Canada. She said that her mother had been used as a "guinea pig" and added: "I would like it to be stopped. In my opinion it should be totally scrapped". Mrs Sadler said she wished her mother had never taken the drug and had decided to go on the trial as a "last resort". Mrs Anderson left two children and four grandchildren. Her solicitor, Richard Starkie, said that the family still had no explanation from doctors as to what happened to her in the four months after she was admitted to hospital. He said: "It is fair to say that having heard all the experts there are some questions that can’t be answered." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1936405,00.html
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