MONITOR ADDICTS CLOSELY, JURY SAYS

A coroner's jury looking into the death of a man in a police jail cell
wants heroin addicts more closely monitored before and after they are
prescribed methadone. The three men and two women on the jury made 10
recommendations Thursday about the use of methadone in B.C.

Their recommendations follow a three-day inquest into the death of
Kevin Paul Mortimer, a Chilliwack man who died in Kamloops RCMP
custody on July 6, 2002.

The jury said heroin addicts should be required to submit to drug
testing before being allowed on the program, to ensure they are not
also addicted to other substances.

Methadone only treats heroin addiction - not cocaine or other
drugs.

As well, the jury said addicts should not be given dosages of
methadone unless they are able to consume it in the presence of a
pharmacist, at least until the patient is stable in the program.

The jury heard evidence that Mortimer's pharmacy gave him a next day's
dose because the store would have been closed. A few hours later, he
consumed a portion of that next day's dose.

The jury also made a number of recommendations related to monitoring,
suggesting methadone patients should be watched by trained personnel
and admitted to clinics or hospitals when drug-related problems are
suspected.

Recommendations from a corner's inquest are not binding on government,
police or other agencies but are seldom ignored.

The jury's conclusions followed the testimony of Dr. Stuart Huckin, a
toxicologist with the Provincial Toxicology Centre in Vancouver.

He told the five-member jury a full drug screen was performed on a
quantity of blood taken from Mortimer after his death.

Huckin said the tests confirmed methadone in Mortimer's blood, as well
as traces of another powerful painkiller and cocaine. No signs of
heroin or other illicit drugs were found.

Mortimer was found dead in his cell around 7:40 p.m. He had been
detained by officers earlier in the day after he refused to leave
Royal Inland Hospital. He was brought there when he was found sleeping
or passed out in Aberdeen Mall.

Huckin said the traces of cocaine left in his blood suggest he
consumed the drug several hours before his death, likely around 9 a.m.

A pharmacist watched him ingest 65 milligrams of liquid methadone
around 10 a.m. in the morning, and it's known he drank another 25
milligrams of methadone later in the day. He also consumed two
powerful painkillers.

Huckin said the stimulant effect of the cocaine may have countered the
depressant effect of the large amount of methadone, at least for a
while.

But once the cocaine was gone, the methadone likely suppressed
Mortimer's breathing reflex while making him sleepy. It's most
probable he died in his sleep with little indication of a medical
problem, he said.

Huckin said the scenario is commonly scene in Vancouver, where there
is a large population of heroin addicts. Typically, people who
overdose just fall asleep and die.

Huckin said Mortimer's prescribed dose of methadone was not too high
for a seriously addicted person with a tolerance for heroin. But if
the man had been clean of heroin for a while and lost his physical
tolerance, the dose could have been dangerous.

The prescribing doctor based the initial dosage on Mortimer's history,
as told to him by Mortimer.

"If he lied, he may have contributed to his own demise," Huckin said.