A MUoeF-FOUR died after she was poisoned by paracetamol she was taking for toothache - just days after she was told she was recovering from a rare muscle disease, an inquest heard.

Sharon Yates suffered fatal liver damage from the drug shortly after she was told the polymyositis which had plagued her for five years was getting better.

Today her husband Brian paid tribute to his wife and said she was sadly missed.

And he warned others to be wary of the dangers of taking too many paracetamol.

Mrs Yates, 43, of Queen Victoria Road, Burnley, started taking the analgesic tablets after developing a toothache which worsened into an abscess at the end of June.

The inquest heard she was prescribed a paracetamol-based painkiller known as Kapake by her GP but was also taking standard paracetamol tablets. Kapake is a mixture of paracetamol and codeine.

Mrs Yates had just returned from holiday and was looking forward to going away with husband Brian when she was admitted to Burnley General Hospital on July 6 amid fears the polymyositis was worsening once more.

Tests, however, showed she was suffering from serious liver damage and she was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, for specialist treatment.

She died three weeks later.

Brian, 45, an engineer who was working on a North Sea oil rig when his wife fell ill, said: "I still cannot believe what has happened.

"She suffered so badly from the polymyositis and was so happy it had cleared up and then this happened. It was tragic.

"She was such a good wife and mother and she will be sadly missed by everyone.

"She had just come back from holiday and enjoyed it so much we were talking about going away together again.

"Then I got a call saying I hadto come home because my wife was critical in hospital.

"People don't realise the harm that paracetamol can cause.

"You only have to take one or two too many and it can lead to so much damage.

"It was such a tragic accident, but I just don't think Sharon knew she was taking too many until it was too late."

Dr Walid Salman, a consultant pathologist at Burnley General Hospital, told the inquest that paracetamol had the capacity to cause long-term damage if the recommended dose was exceeded.

He said: "The liver has the capacity to deal with paracetamol but if that is undermined it will lead to liver damage and that is caused either by taking a large dose or by a cumulative effect.

"Toxicity will only show itself four or five days later."

East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor said: "Sadly, Mrs Yates got an abscess which she had to get rid of and took paracetamol. It struck me that she got the Kapake at the same time she was taking paracetamol. "She may just have thought it would help with the pain, but tragically it caused significant liver damage and went on to cause her death."

He recorded a verdict of accidental death.