Massive overdose kills Conquest nurse
A NURSE with a history of suicidal tendencies killed himself with a massive overdose of anasthetics.
Dean Simpson, of Pinewood Way, St Leonards, who worked at the Conquest and the Kent and Sussex Hospital, was found dead by his partner Katy Collins when she came home from a night shift at 7.30am.
His mother, Zena Green, told an inquest on Wednesday: "He was a dedicated father and a wonderful son. He was just a very mixed up man and it's a very sad loss."
Coronor Alan Craze said he knew of deaths occurring from just 0.5mg of the anasthetic drug Propofol, and that Mr Simpson had drip-fed most of 200mls into his left arm using an intravenous canula.
Toxicology reports found 13.3mg of the drug per litre of his blood, and traces of a second anasthetic, lignocaine.
Andrew Smith, toxicologist at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, said: "Clearly a level of 13.3 was well above the level needed even for anasthesia, and this would have been fatal."
Batch numbers traced the drug to Springfield Hospital, Essex, where Mr Simpson, 34, trained as a staff nurse with Katy Collins as his mentor.
Coroner's officer Reggie Jones described how father-of-two Mr Simpson, who had tried on two previous occasions to kill himself, was surrounded by pictures of his children and partner when he died on August 18 last year.
Recording a verdict of suicide, Coroner Craze said: "I'm not left in any doubt at all. Although there was no note left, he could not have hooked himself up to this amount without intending that it should bring about his death."
Zena Green added: "He truly was a doting father and absolutely adored his children."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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