GP ARRESTED AFTER FIVE PATIENTS DIE OF OVERDOSES

Detectives were yesterday investigating a family doctor on suspicion of
manslaughter amid concerns over the deaths of five patients. They may exhume
the bodies of two.

Dr John Gordon, 50, was arrested by Cumbria Police after concerns were
expressed at the start of the year by relatives of a man who died after an
overdose of methadone.

Detectives have subsequently begun investigating those of Dr Gordon's
patients who have overdosed on methadone since 1 January, last year - five
in total. Suspicions centre on negligent rather than deliberate
over-prescription of methadone.

A Cumbria police spokesman said detectives, who have released the doctor on
police bail, were awaiting the results of toxicology tests and were
considering ordering the exhumation of two bodies.

North Cumbria Health Authority said the GP, one of four partners in a group
practice at Warwick Road, Carlisle, had not been suspended but had agreed
not to return to work while the investigation, which detectives say will be
protracted, is continuing.

News of Dr Gordon's arrest caused alarm in Carlisle. Although there is no
suggestion that the GP wilfully killed patients, local medical professionals
said that the recent conviction of GP Harold Shipman on 15 murder charges
increased the potential for panic.

One local GP, Sue Brook, said: "In view of what has happened recently,
people are going to be on their guard and it is going to need very careful
handling."

One of the deaths believed to be under investigation is Michael Kirkpatrick,
19, who died in his bedsit last May of a methadone overdose.

At his inquest, a verdict of accidental death was recorded. Mr Kirkpatrick's
girlfriend, Tracie Wilkinson, 24, yesterday said they were engaged to be
married this summer. "It was a terrible thing to happen," she said.

Dr Gordon dispensed methadone to drug users from a clinic opened at the rear
of the main surgery practice within the last two years.

He was one of a number of GPs who operated the local health authority Share
Care scheme by which heroin addicts are prescribed methadone which is
dispensed by chemists.

The scheme also includes measures to ensure that drug-users take the
methadone at the pharmacy when they pick up their prescriptions. This
prevents them selling their methadone on to other drug users.

Staff at the doctor's practice in the centre of the city declined to comment
to reporters.

Yesterday, North East Cumbria Ian Morton said the initial police inquiry
related to a recent death in Carlisle, an inquest into which has been opened
and adjourned.

Police had asked him not to release the body to his family. Mr Morton said:
"I believe there are serious concerns over this death and that is why the
police are involved. They are keeping me informed."

The Medical Protection Society, which is offering legal representation to Dr
Gordon, issued a statement confirming that he had been interviewed by police
and was helping with their inquiries. It said: "He has cooperated fully and
will continue to do so until their inquiries are complete."

The General Medical Council, which governs the medical profession, said it
was working closely with Cumbria Police on the investigation into Dr Gordon,
whose medical registration could now be suspended.

No one was answering the door yesterday at Dr Gordon's UKP120,000 detached
home in the pretty village of Longburgh, five miles west of Carlisle, where
traditional stone-built cottages nestle in the Cumbrian countryside

The only sign that anyone was at home came when a police officer called at
the two-storey home at around 2.45pm and talked to the people inside.

Dr Gordon has been bailed by police until June.