Tragedy of mother addicted to painkillers for 28 years
A MUM who was so addicted to painkillers that she begged neighbours to give her their pills, accidentally overdosed.
Amanda Harris, 45, took so many pills for her aches and pains she developed a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ temperament and was barely able to walk – yet a batch of painkillers would be delivered to her home each week.
When one GP reduced the weekly dosage, Miss Harris would take her prescription batch in one go – then became so desperate for more tablets she would persuade friends and neighbours to give her medication they had been prescribed.
Last August she was found dead at her home in Rossendale by her boyfriend after taking a toxic cocktail of drugs.
Tests showed morphine and codeine in her system was at a fatal level and some of the drugs had been prescribed to her by her GP.
An inquest heard Miss Harris, known as Mandy, who lived alone in Rawtenstall, had developed an addiction to codeine when she was just 17 after starting the medication to help her long-term pain across her legs.
Shirley Smith, a neighbour, told the inquest in Burnley: “She would come round sweating sometimes but that was due to the drugs. She asked me for tablets and I said no. The doctors would give her painkillers that were strong enough to have one a day but she was also buying them from another source.”
Mrs Smith, who has one child, added: “Mandy had no intention to end her life. She was happy and she told me what she planned on doing in the future.”
Miss Harris’ partner, Brian Jones, said: “She would knock on doors asking if they had any spare tablets.”
Coroner Richard Taylor recorded a conclusion of misadventure and said: “This was a lady who has been in discomfort for many years and taking medication, some prescribed some not. With this she has taken a cocktail of painkillers and some alcohol, and her body couldn’t tolerate it. That in my estimation was a mistake on her behalf.
“It was an unintentional outcome of an intentional action. She didn’t intend to end her life. She had taken medication – but not all that had been prescribed to her.”