Mr H suffers from cervical spondylosis which affects his spine and neck. As a result he has been on various pain killers to try to control his pain. In March 2008 Mr H was taking a Morphine Sulphate oral solution.
On 8 April 2008 Mr H attended his GP who on this occasion
prescribed morphine tablets, as opposed to the oral solution. Mr H
60 10mg tablets.
Mr H went to his local pharmacy to have the prescription made up.
He then returned home and at sometime between 12pm and 1pm he took
2 tablets as advised by his GP.
Shortly after taking the tablets he started to feel unwell. He
felt nauseous and started experiencing problems with his breathing
which became more laboured.
Mr H realised, due to a dispensing error, he had taken 120mg of
Morphine rather than the 20mg he had been prescribed. His contacted
his GP who arranged for him to be admitted to his local hospital
where he was treated in the Accident and Emergency
department.
Mr H was discharged from hospital late that evening. On discharge
he was still experiencing problems with his breathing and he felt
very weak. He continued to feel nauseous for approximately 4 days
afterwards and very light headed for about a week. He suffered
problems with both his bowel and bladder. He was constipated for a
number of days and strained to pass urine. These symptoms resolved
spontaneously after about a week.
The Defendant admitted at an early stage that they had made an
error and after negotiations damages were recovered in the sum of
£1,000.