Drug swap focus of coroner’s hearing
Parents give evidence at inquest into sudden epilepsy deaths
Afarmer, a scaffolder, a university student, a dad, a daughter. The common thread: All had epilepsy and all died after their governmentfunded medication changed without warning.
The Kiwis, aged between 27 and 35, lost to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (Sudep), are the subject of an unusual coronial inquest at Auckland District Court.
Yesterday, grieving mum Johanna Oliver said her 26-year-old son complained of feeling zombie-like shortly after the brand switch.
On the morning of August 12 last year, William Oliver was found by his girlfriend, dead in the back of his car.
“He was studying computer science, we had been getting along really well. He had his whole life ahead of him,” Oliver told the Herald.
William’s GP Dr Joshua Tang only learned of the drug brand switch after reading of his patient’s death in the media.
The Dunedin mum read a note from William’s 17-year-old sister aloud to the courtroom: “We miss you and I love you, we are fighting for you and your story to be told in a way that honours the legacy that you have left behind and in a way there was justice and truth.”
Rotorua dad Gary Loye said he found his youngest daughter Krystal, 35, dead at the end of her bed 40 minutes after he had comforted her to sleep.
It was early in the morning of February 23 this year.
Loye was watching a rugby game when he heard his daughter gurgling. He rushed in and sat with her until she fell back asleep.
“I just held her, comforting her and waited for it to pass and then she went back to sleep.”
Loye said the seizure was unusual because she had only had one other episode in nearly two years. At one stage she would get about 60 seizures a day, he said.
In September last year – months before Krystal’s death – her doctor switched her medication to the Logem brand.
“I remember being told there was a brand change and I remember asking, ‘ Will the change make any difference’, but the doctor said no.
“I asked why there had been a change and he said it was cheaper,” Loye told the inquest.
Krystal’s doctor, Dr David Sharples, who spoke in court, said he did say it was cheaper and deemed equivalent by Pharmac to her previous drug which she had been taking for about a decade. Sharples said he never talked to the family about the risk of Sudep.
The inquest comes after drug-buying agency Pharmac faced criticism for switching the brand of the drug, affecting 11,000 patients, sparking an
internal review.
A Pharmac investigation found no wrongdoing in the decision to change the brand of drug it funded, and Logem still remains publicly available – though the agency also brought back the original funded medicine.
Epilepsy NZ chief executive Ross Smith has said that part of the issue was patients weren’t being properly consulted when there was a brand change — and that didn’t just apply to this drug.
The country’s Medicine Safety Authority, MedSafe, says Pharmac should avoid changing brands whenever possible as there is a risk of destabilising treatment for these patients.
It also advises proper con
sultation with patients before switching, including outlining the risks and advice to come back if it doesn’t feel right.
Both doctors said they did not fully consult the patient before dispensing the different brand of drug. The issue is clouded by the fact Sudep affects one in 1000 young adults (aged 20-45), where a cause of death cannot be found.
MedSafe has stressed anyone taking anti-epilepsy medication is to keep taking it and if they have concerns to talk to their doctor.
Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall will continue to hear from families and doctors this week. Pharmac is expected to give its response in February.