An excessive dosage of medication taken to alleviate back pain caused the death of a Bridgend man who passed away whilst holidaying at a camp site in Manorbier, a coroner’s inquest heard last week.
Fifty-one-year-old Mark John Bevan, of Pontycymer, was rushed to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest on July 17, where he passed away after complaining of suffering from stomach pains at the camp site he was staying at, an inquest into his death at Milford Haven town hall heard on Thursday, November 23.
Coroner’s Officer for Dyfed Powys Police, Jeremy Davies, told the inquest that Mr. Bevan had retired some years ago after suffering an engineering accident at his workplace in Bridgend, resulting in an operation for a slipped disk in his back, which caused him a great deal of pain.
The inquest heard that some six months before his passing, Mr. Bevan underwent an operation for a hernia that he had suffered with for some time, and was on medication.
Towards the end of June, Mr. Bevan and his wife rented accommodation at a camp site in Manorbier, and on July 4, whilst taking a walk down to the beach, he complained of stomach pains.
His wife returned home for work purposes, with Mr. Bevan staying on in Manorbier, as she was due to return the following day after she finished her shift, but she received a phone call on the morning of July 5 from a worker at the camp site, to say that her husband had been taken to hospital as he had continued to feel unwell. He passed away later that morning.
Pembrokeshire Coroner, Mark Layton told the inquest that the post-mortem report stated that there were toxic levels of the drug DHC (Dihydrocodeine) present in Mr. Bevan’s blood.
Mr. Layton concluded that Mr. Bevan died of a high concentration of DHC in his system that he had been taking for pain relief due to his long term back injury.
“He had inadvertently taken an excessive dosage,” stated Mr. Layton, before delivering a verdict that Mr. Bevan’s death was drugs related.