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Drugs cocktail may have led to death fall
MS sufferer fell from his fifth-floor flat
THE father of a successful chartered accountant who plunged to his death from his fifth-floor flat in Holloway told an inquest he believed a cocktail of drugs for multiple sclerosis had made his son irrational.
Rowan Pais, 28, died from multiple injuries on November 2 last year in the forecourt of Buckler Court, Eden Grove, where he lived with his girlfriend.
Suffering from “aggressive” relapses of the debilitating condition he was prescribed a series of steroids and anti-depressants to treat the disease.
At an inquest yesterday (Thursday) Mr Pais’s father, Adolphus Pais, told the court they were concerned about the prescription of the interferon drug Rebit.
He said: “We are concerned that the combination of the drugs led him to become irrational. We were horrified to hear that he had been taking them inappropriately – to try and help the condition. Sometimes he was taking them four times a day, but he was not supposed to.”
Dr Kapoor, a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital, said he had discussed suicide with Mr Pais in the week leading up to his death.
He told the court: “He was clearly gloomy in relapse. The same thought has gone through my mind. There have been recent clinical trials that included one suicide. But the number of relapsing MS cases complaining of suicidal tendencies at the clinical trials is exactly the same as the ones who were not taking the drug.”
He added: “New drugs had become available but they were expensive. We were in talks with Mr Pais about this. If they were made available on the NHS and he continued his low moods we would have considered getting funding for them. We are, however, very familiar with this problem in MS sufferers.”
Emily Harrison, a specialist nurse working for Islington Primary Care Trust, told the court: “We had spoken on the telephone on October 24 and he had reported changing symptoms. He had no plans for suicide but he was saying he was experiencing ‘difficult thoughts’ and was increasingly taking time off work. He was struggling to come to terms with the diagnosis.”
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid said: “MS is surely one of the most feared diseases. The element of anxiety that comes with it should not be underestimated. Half of MS sufferers experience depression, often after the diagnosis is established and the education process begins.”
Mr Pais was found, still dressed in the suit he had worn to a job interview earlier that morning, hours after writing a makeshift will on his laptop computer.
PC Marriott, who was on duty on November 2, told the court: “We broke into the flat and found a hard copy of the will on the table. There was a plate and knife and fork – he had clearly had a meal.”
Pathology reports found no drugs or alcohol in Mr Pais’s body, confirming he had eaten a meal hours before the fall.
Recording an open verdict, Dr Reid said he was unable to be certain Mr Pais committed suicide. |
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