AN inquest heard yesterday that a 19 year old drug addict died of narcotics poisoning when he accidentally overdosed in the toilet of a Dublin hospital.
Mr Gerard Heavy, of Elm Mount Avenue, Beaumont, Dublin, was found collapsed in a ground floor toilet in St James's Hospital by a security man on December 6th last.
Mr Francis Byrne told Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday that he received no answer when he knocked on the toilet door. He opened it with a security key and found the deceased. There was a syringe in the toilet bowl and a belt on the ground, he added.
Garda Walter Sweeney, of Kilmainham Garda station, told the inquest that Mr Heavy was resuscitated by medical staff and admitted to the hospital, but died on December 22nd.
A post mortem report indicated that the man had died of cerebral noxia as a result of narcotics poisoning. He had also suffered from hepatitis C.
Recording a verdict of misadventure, Dr Brian Farrell, the City Coroner, said such accidental overdoses were an unfortunate but common occurrence.
