Woman, 25, dies of paracetemol overdose after self-medicating with Lemsip, cough medicine and pills for her cold

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:50 AM on 29th September 2011

A young mother died after overdosing on Lemsip and paracetamol to treat a COLD, an inquest has heard.
Tragic Donna Bishop, 25, downed a daily cocktail of over-the-counter medication when she fell ill two weeks before Christmas last year.
The pretty mum-of-one was diagnosed with a chest infection by her GP on New Year’s Eve, five days before she died, and was prescribed antibiotics.

Tragedy: Donna Bishop died after she overdosed on over-the-counter flu remedies she took for a cold, an inquest has heard

But she continued to self-medicate and swallowed pills washed down with hot Lemsip drinks and cough medicine.
Her health rapidly deteriorated and she died in hospital on January 4 from liver failure caused by a paracetamol overdose.
The inquest at Worcestershire Coroner’s Court in Stourport-on-Severn heard how Donna had travelled to Scotland before Christmas to visit her friend Siobhan Dunn.
She had been suffering from a cold for two weeks before her death and Miss Dunn said Donna was taking ‘high’ amounts of over-the-counter drugs and she had been sick several times.

This would lead her to take more medication in the belief she needed a top-up dose after vomiting.
After travelling back to her home in Warndon Villages, Worcester, on December 31 she saw her GP who prescribed antibiotics.

After her GP prescribed antibiotics for a chest infection, Donna continued to self-medicate and swallowed pills washed down with Lemsip

On January 2 she went to Worcestershire Royal Hospital complaining of mouth ulcers and having difficulty in swallowing.
A doctor prescribed co-codamol and a throat spray but the next day her sister Kerrie Bishop visited her and found her forgetful, with a yellow jaundiced complexion and unsteady on her feet.
She took her to A&E but Donna left because the wait was too long.
Hours later she returned when her condition worsened and she was eventually seen by Dr Curtis Fasey and a senior registrar, who told her they would have to carry out tests to reveal the cause of her jaundice.
But Donna left the hospital before she had any more tests.
At 2.30am on January 4, she was admitted to hospital and given a bed on the gynaecological ward.
Staff said she was ‘fidgety’ and suffering hallucinations.
According to nurse practitioner Andrew Eggleton, Donna denied taking paracetamol but she died later that day.
A pathologist report concluded her death was due to liver failure caused by a paracetamol overdose.
The two-day inquest continues.

Sphere: Related Content