A 44-year-old man died when he fell downstairs after being left without lie-saving medication. David Crompton from Leeds didn’t have essential medicine as his pharmacy had not been able to supply it to him.
Mr Crompton died after falling down a set of stairs which caused a brain injury and cardiac arrest, with epilepsy being listed as a contributory factor in his death. An inquest that a pharmacy, unable to supply medication, had instead left him an ‘IOU’ note for his prescription.
Following the inquest, Senior Coroner for West Yorkshire Kevin McLoughlin has now issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report. In the report Mr McLoughlin criticised how long Mr Crompton was left without medication, including drugs which are used in the treatment of epilepsy, YorkshireLive reports.
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Mr McLoughlin said: “The evidence given by family members at the inquest was that when the pharmacy was unable to supply the prescribed Tegretol medication, it was left to them to contact other pharmacies to see if they could obtain it, rather than for the pharmacy to search for supplies.
“The inquest was informed that following the April 2024 episode, hospital specialists commented that the absence of Tegretol for around 10 days ‘will likely have contributed to your seizure activity’. It is questionable whether lessons were learnt from this potentially dangerous interval.”
Now the Prevention of Future Deaths report has been sent to Midway Pharmacy in Pudsey, Leeds, as well as the General Pharmaceutical Council in London. Both have been asked to respond by February 27.
Mr Crompton had not had access to crucial medication -Credit:Getty Images
Clare Pelham, chief executive of the Epilepsy Society, said: “The Epilepsy Society, working with other charities and pharmacy organisations, has been calling for several months on the government to conduct an urgent review into the medicines supply chain that is resulting in repeated shortages of vital medications. Our hearts go out to David Crompton’s family and friends.
“How can it be the case that sadly someone dies as a result of a medicines shortage in the UK? We have been warning for months of the worst and most extreme outcome that medication shortages can have for people with epilepsy.”
Ms Pelham added: “I hope that David’s sad death will be what it takes to prompt the Government to take action now. As Winston Churchill famously said, we need action this day.
“We need a task force with strong leadership and accountability. Charities and people across the pharmaceutical industry and supply chain are only too willing to lend their expertise and I hope Health Secretary Wes Streeting will recognise the importance of acting now.
“It is critical that another family doesn’t have to experience this devastating loss.”