George Stone · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On 22nd November 2012 I commenced an investigation into the death of George Douglas Stone, aged 37. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 16th August 2013. The conclusion of the inquest was that the medical cause of George Stone's death was Yew Tree Leaf Intoxication and he had taken his own life whilst suffering from a long term depressive disorder.

George Stone suffered from long term depressive illness. In August 2012 he was prescribed Venlafaxine which caused him to suffer a grand mal seizure on 6th September 2012. This in turn led to an exacerbation of his depressive illness and he ended his own life on 19th November 2012.

I was told in evidence at the Inquest that a side effect of Venlafaxine and similar antidepressants is seizures and that although this is rare, these seizures can be very severe - as was the case with George Stone. I was also told that the NPSA issues national guidelines for the warnings practitioners must give their patients who are prescribed these sorts of antidepressants but the risk of patients suffering a severe seizure is not included in the guidelines at the present time.