Kymberley Holden inquest: 'Prescription error' in MS patient case

Kymberley Holden died of oxycodone intoxication - the umbrella name for OxyNorm - and Devic's disease - a condition similar to multiple sclerosis

A multiple sclerosis sufferer was prescribed 10 times the correct dosage of a painkiller before her death, an inquest has heard.

Kymberley Holden, 27, from Codnor, Derbyshire, was found unconscious at her home on 26 November 2014.

Nottingham Coroner's Court was told there was a high level of OxyNorm in her blood when she died because of a "prescription error".

Tests showed she died from oxycodone intoxication and Devic's disease.

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Miss Holden had been diagnosed with MS 11 months before she died and had been to see her doctor for the pain she was suffering.

Lalitha Vaithianathar, her consultant neurologist and a forensic toxicologist, told the court it was the dosing of liquid OxyNorm over a short period of time in the final hours that caused the respiratory depression that led to her death.

Opening the inquest, coroner Dr Elizabeth Didcock said there had been a "prescription error".

'Bubbly and smiley'

Her boyfriend Ian Dye said Miss Holden's condition was so severe she had lost the use of her right leg and was using a wheelchair.

He told the court, she had taken three doses of the drug to cope with severe pain in her leg hours before her death.

He said he woke that night to find her lying on the floor and not breathing. She later died in hospital.

A post-mortem tests revealed she died of oxycodone intoxication - the generic name for OxyNorm - and Devic's disease - a rare neurological condition similar to MS, the court heard.

Miss Holden, who was a dispatch officer for East Midlands Ambulance Service, was a "bubbly and smiley young woman", Mr Dye and her father Stephen told the court.

The inquest continues.