TV STAR’S DEATH IS PROBED BY POLICE
Family say comic was killed by NHS drugs
THE death of one of Britain’s best-loved character actors is being investigated by police after his family claimed he was ‘killed by the NHS’.
Howard Lew Lewis – who starred in TV favourites such as Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, Brush Strokes and Blackadder – died last Saturday in a community hospital in Edinburgh. Just days before his death, his daughter told The Scottish Mail on Sunday that her father’s medicines had suddenly been changed – and ‘were killing him’.
His medical records show he had recently been placed on a regime of high-dose sedatives and maximum-strength opiate painkillers.
Although such drugs might be commonly prescribed for patients in the final stages of terminal illness, Mr Lewis’s daughter says he was suffering only from treatable diabetes and early-stage dementia.
Just before Christmas he gave an interview to the Scottish Mail on
‘The new medication killed him’
Sunday in which he spoke clearly of his desire to leave hospital to live with his daughter and grandson.
Last night medical experts expressed their shock at the apparently ‘inappropriate’ treatment given to Mr Lewis.
His daughter Debora Milazzo, 42, has now filed official complaints with NHS Lothian and watchdog body the Care Inspectorate.
Last night, she said: ‘My dad was killed by the NHS. They killed him. Justice needs to be done.
‘We’ll all get old at some point. The question is, when are they going to do the same to us? This is happening all over the place and it’s terrible that people have to die before anyone takes any notice.’
Police Scotland confirmed it was investigating Mr Lewis’s death – which it describes as ‘unexplained’. A post-mortem examination will now be carried out by a state pathologist and Mr Lewis’s daughter is arranging to commission a second, independent post-mortem.
Mr Lewis, or ‘Lewy’ as his friends knew him, died last Saturday. Last month, Mr Lewis revealed he was fighting the City of Edinburgh Council, which he claimed was keeping him ‘hostage’ in hospital, having taken control of his fortune worth half a million pounds.
The council was granted a guardianship order in October last year over Mr Lewis’s welfare and finances – including his acting royalties and the proceeds from the sale of his family home.
In August last year, the 76-yearold had been sent to Ellen’s Glen House community hospital in the Liberton area of the city against his and his daughter’s wishes.
Speaking to this paper before Christmas, Mr Lewis said the council was committing a major injustice by seizing control of his finances and welfare, and was abusing its safeguarding powers.
Although Mr Lewis suffered from the early stages of dementia, his impassioned plea to the authorities was crystal clear. He said: ‘I want to go home. I’m just here in my bed all day and they won’t let me out. I want my money. I haven’t had any money for months and months. I just wish they’d give it to Debbie.’
On the same day the Scottish Mail on Sunday published Mr Lewis’s moving testimony against the council, medical records show his drug regime was changed, with a cannula put into his abdomen.
Through it, an opiate 30 times the strength of oral morphine, Alfentanyl, was pumped, in combination with Midazolam – a sedative which prevents the creation of new memories.
The dosage of these drugs was increased incrementally over the month-long period leading up to Mr Lewis’s death. A former senior NHS executive told the Scottish Mail on Sunday this combination of drugs was appropriate only for a patient ‘in the terminal phase of a malignant disease’.
But Mr Lewis’s daughter insists her father had received no such terminal diagnosis at the time of his death. She said: ‘My father didn’t have cancer, he didn’t have heart disease. They suddenly just changed his medication and it was the new medication that killed him.’
The former NHS executive expressed shock at Mr Lewis’s treatment, saying: ‘I cannot conceive of circumstances which would necessitate the repeated administration of these drugs. I am not in the least surprised that the patient died. In a nutshell, these drugs stop people breathing.
‘If this were my relative I would postpone funeral arrangements until inquiries have been initiated – I personally believe this is a police matter and demands immediate action. This man was receiving a prolonged anaesthetic. I can see no reason for this and, short of him being in the terminal phase of a malignant disease, I cannot conceive of circumstances which would necessitate the repeated administration of these drugs.
‘I can see no good reason for increasing the dose, either. Alarm
bells are ringing all over this scenario.’
Nine days before Mr Lewis died, Ms Milazzo raised serious concerns about her father’s new medication plan and said she feared for his life.
In an email to The Scottish Mail on Sunday, she wrote: ‘The care home is killing my dad. He will die before the end of the month if nobody stops them.’
In what was to be his final interview before he died, Mr Lewis told tales about his life as one of Britain’s best-loved comedy stars, including how he felt at his first audition, his favourite roles and what it was like to work alongside Ronnie Barker and Rowan Atkinson. He joked and teased, he posed for the camera and begged to be asked more questions.
But just before our reporter left he said: ‘I was watching the horses on TV today. They were so…’ he lowered his head into his hand and wept. ‘They were so free.’
Mr Lewis said all he wanted was to go home to be looked after by his daughter and be with his grandson but he was kept at Ellen’s Glen House until he was declared dead at 3.05pm on January 20.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘The death is being treated as unexplained but is not thought to be suspicious. A report has been submitted to the procurator fiscal.’ Dr Tracey Gillies, medical director at NHS Lothian, said: ‘Our condolences are with Mr Lewis’s family at this sad time.
‘However, it would not be appropriate to discuss any details from his medical record.
‘All of the normal procedures, which include informing the procurator fiscal of his death, have been carried out.’
If this were my relative I would postpone the funeral until inquiries had been initiated… I can see no reason for this [drug treatment]… alarm bells are ringing all over this scenario FORMER NHS EXECUTIVE