Coroner's 'grave concerns' over online drug sales

Nigel Dixon's inquest heard he bought a "huge" amount of medication online (stock photo)

A coroner has expressed “grave concerns” over the ability to buy “powerful” drugs online following the death of a man in Leicestershire.

Nigel Dixon, 64, died from an overdose of two medications in February 2023.

The former army veteran bought one of the medications online in larger doses than would usually be prescribed by a GP.

Rutland and North Leicestershire's assistant coroner Isobel Thistlethwaite has issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to both the Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care and for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport suggesting more protections should be put in place.

The inquest into Mr Dixon's death heard he had a medical history of physical and mental health issues.

A post-mortem examination found he died from toxicity relating to two medications - one which was prescribed by a GP and a second which he purchased from an online company.

Addressing the inquest, a GP said the amount of the drug he was able to buy at one time was “huge”.

She added it was “hard to safely prescribe to people who were supplementing their prescription drugs with online purchases”.

'Lives at risk'

In her report, Ms Thistlethwaite said it was “gravely concerning that powerful drugs are available online so freely and in such large quantities, with little to nothing in the way of checks and balances around who the drugs are being sold to”.

She also criticised the lack of regulation of companies supplying drugs online, stating it “inevitably puts the lives of vulnerable people at risk”.

The company which supplied the drugs was not named in the report.

However, the coroner said the company did not communicate with Mr Dixon’s GP when he placed his order.

University Hospitals Of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust was also criticised in the report for failing to pass on information about cancelling a prescription.

However, Ms Thistlethwaite said improvements had already been made by the trust that would likely prevent this situation happening again for another patient.

The Department for Health and Social Care, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and UHL have been contacted for comment.

Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.