THE death of an asthmatic patient at Calderstones Hospital has mystified nursing staff and medical men at an inquest.

Peter Benson, 59, was found to have in his body poisonous amounts of a drug he had been taking for a long time to help with his asthma.

But an investigation into how Mr Benson came to have lethal amounts of the drug Salbutamol in his blood had revealed that it was unlikely he either got hold of extra quantities of the tablets or that he hoarded his own prescription to take them all at once.

One theory was that he had renal problems which meant that the drug was not being dealt with by his kidneys and was being stored up in his body.

But the inquest heard that Mr Benson also had a history of epilepsy and could have suffered a seizure before staff found him.

Pathologist Dr Richard Prescott gave the cause of death as Salbutamol toxicity.

Recording an open verdict, Coroner Andre Rebello said: "There is no question that there was an overdosage of the drug from the clinical team, either accidentally or recklessly.

"A lot has been learned about Salbutamol here today and how it works but I cannot say it caused Mr Benson's death."

Consultant clinical scientist Tom Richardson told the inquest that Mr Benson had over three times the therapeutic dose of Salbutamol in his blood.

But charge nurse Mary Kelly told the inquest that staff were strict about drug distribution to patients and that it would be ensured that Mr Benson always swallowed his tablet twice a day.

The inquest heard that Mr Benson's room was also searched regularly because he was a "magpie" and collected all kinds of useless items and staff would have been sure to find any collection of drugs.

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