METHADONE INQUIRY PUTS A FACE ON FOUR DURHAM REGION DEATHS

Coroner's Inquest Examines Final Hours

OSHAWA - They were four very different people who looked to methadone
to help them lead normal lives.

But a coroner's inquest, which began Monday, will try and determine
how the drug may have contributed to their premature deaths.

The inquest is expected to last at least a month and will examine the
circumstances leading up to the deaths of four methadone users: David
Stevenson, 28, who passed away in his sleep Nov. 12, 2002; Craig
Beers, 17, who was found dead by his mother in their Bowmanville home
July 13, 2003; Steven Pidgeon, 46, who died in his Genosha Hotel room
July 16, 2003; and Judith Jenkins, 44, who passed away in her Oshawa
home Sept. 21, 2003.

All but Mr. Beers were patients at the First Step Oshawa Clinic, which
prescribes methadone for addiction treatment. He acquired it from an
unidentified patient being treated at First Step.

An inquest has been called due to the fact there have been more than
20 methadone-related deaths in and around Oshawa since 2001. A
five-member jury will examine these four deaths and possibly come up
with recommendations for preventing similar fatalities in the future.

Durham Region Crown attorney John Scott is acting as counsel to the
coroner, with Regional Coroner Dr. William Lucas presiding. Four
lawyers representing three doctors and the medical clinic each have
standing at the inquest, as do solicitors for the College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and the Jenkins family.

Jeff Mutter, a lawyer for Dr. Bobby Esbin, said his client treated
David Stevenson and the unidentified patient who gave his methadone to
Mr. Beers. He plans to show that it was a mixture of drugs, not
methadone alone, that caused the deaths of Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Beers.

A toxicologist was expected to take the stand Tuesday (after our press
deadline) ti testify as to how the different drugs detected in the two
victims may have worked against each other.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Nihad Ali-Ridha showed that in each case
vital organs slowed down and filled with fluid, consistent with the
slow failure of a drug death. Not finding any anatomical causes of
death, toxicology tests were ordered, and found methadone in their
system, he said. Other drugs were also detected.

"Methadone causes central nervous system depression," he said.
"Sleepiness is the hallmark of depressing brain function."

Mr. Scott said in his opening address that, in at least two of the
four cases, families noticed their loved one "nodding off" or acting
sluggishly.

"These are people who had real struggles," he said.

All three seeking treatment were taking methadone to overcome
addictions to pain killers. Mr. Pidgeon was a long-time methadone
patient, who, after suffering an injury at the age of 17, turned to
painkillers and later street drugs. Ms. Jenkins began using
painkillers after having stomach surgery.

Mr. Beers struggled with depression and anxiety, and was once
hospitalized in 2003 before acquiring his methadone from a patient at
First Step.

Developed to treat opiate addiction, methadone "is a wonderful drug if
used in the right way," Mr. Scott told the inquiry.