A wedding that never was
Tale of loss emerges from inquest into epilepsy medicines
Jessica Reid, 23, was cremated in the dress she never got to wear to her wedding. It had not yet been properly fitted but funeral directors made it work, her mum Karen told the Herald.
On the morning of September 20, last year, the “passionate, thoughtful and loving” bride-to-be was found dead by her mum, “face down on the bathroom floor”.
Reid’s death is one of six subject to an inquest at the Auckland District Court on whether a change of epilepsy medication caused or contributed to their deaths.
Her fiance, Alex Bradley, remembers meeting the love of his life when she was still at high school. He was four years older.
Six years later, Bradley proposed to his “animal-lover” girlfriend at Auckland Zoo. The Hastings couple planned to get married in March next year.
Bradley doesn’t remember much from the day Reid died.
“It was all a blur”.
But he remembers the phone call from Reid’s mother asking why her daughter hadn’t turned up for work. She had worked with her mum as a dog groomer.
“I just remember my heart falling, and I just knew it wasn’t good,” Bradley said.
Reid’s sister Hannah yesterday spoke at the front of an Auckland District Court room as part of the coronial inquest.
Bradley and Karen Reid sat in the public gallery comforting each other as Hannah spoke.
She did not believe the medicine brand change alone killed her sister, but it was a contributing factor.
“We feel as though there has been a massive failure of the healthcare system,” Hannah said.
“Jess’s GP changed the dose of her Logem medication without consulting a neurologist . . . why was the GP allowed to change Jess’s dose without neurologist consultation?”
Hannah said a change in the way brand switches were communicated to patients and between health professionals was needed and her family felt a dedicated party should be nominated to discuss the brand change.
“Changes for epilepsy medication should be made only by a neurologist, not a GP . . . pharmacy databases need to be linked.
“Jess reached out for help multiple times before her death but never received it.
“One neurologist appointment, two minutes to read the neurologist notes – that’s all it would have taken for her to still be here today.”
The inquest into six sudden unexplained epilepsy deaths comes after Pharmac faced a raft of criticism for changing the brand of anti-seizure medicine lamotrigine to a generic form of the drug, Logem.
The brand switch affected nearly 11,000 patients, sparking an internal review, commissioned by Pharmac, New Zealand’s government-funded drug-buying agency.
The investigation found no wrongdoing in the decision to change the brand of the drug it funded, and Logem still remains publicly available – although the agency also brought back the original funded medicine patients could apply to return to.
Epilepsy NZ chief executive Ross Smith last week told the Herald 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, warned Pharmac about changing brands, saying it should be avoided whenever possible, as there was a risk of destabilising treatment for these patients.
They also advise proper consultation with patients before switching, including outlining the risks and advising them to come back if it doesn’t feel right.
Doctors speaking at the inquest all said they did not fully consult the patient before dispensing the different brand of the drug and often did not outline the risks.
Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall will continue to hear from families and doctors this week before Pharmac is expected to give its response in February next year.
,, I just remember my heart falling, and I just knew it wasn’t good
Alex Bradley