Coroner issues antidepressant warning after Thomas Kingston death | Royal

A coroner has issued a warning about the effects of drugs used to treat depression following the death of Lady Gabriella’s husband last year.

Thomas Kingston, son-in-law of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, died of a head injury on February 25 last year at his parents’ home in the Cotswolds. Last year, an inquest found that a gun was found near his body, and a coroner concluded that Kingston had taken his own life and was “suffering from the adverse effects of medications recently prescribed to him.”

Katy Skerrett, senior coroner for Gloucestershire, has now sent a report on preventing future deaths to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), which provides clinical guidance and quality standards for treatment and care, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). ) and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

During last year’s inquest into his death at Gloucestershire Coroner’s Court, it was heard that he was initially given sertraline, a drug used to treat mental health problems, and zopiclone, a sleeping pill, by a GP at the Royal Mews Surgery.

Employees of the royal court benefit from the internship at Buckingham Palace. He was prescribed the drug after he complained of trouble sleeping due to stress at work.

Kingston returned for surgery and found that the medications were not making him feel better. During the investigation, it was found that the doctor had switched him from sertraline to the similar drug citalopram.

A few days before his death, Kingston stopped taking his medications, and toxicology tests showed he had caffeine and small amounts of zopiclone in his system. Ms Skerrett said action needed to be taken over the risk of suicide in patients prescribed the drugs.

In a report on preventing future deaths, the coroner questioned whether patients were adequately informed about the suicide risk of using such drugs.

She also expressed concerns about whether current guidance on continuing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medications or switching to an alternative SSRI is appropriate when no benefit has been achieved, “particularly if any adverse side effects occur.”

The report has been sent to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Royal College of General Practitioners, who have 56 days to respond.

The coroner’s concerns echo those of Kingston’s wife, Lady Gabriella, who warned about the effects of drugs during the inquest. In a statement read by Ms Skerrett, she said: “(Work) has certainly been a challenge for him over the years but I very much doubt it would have led him to take his own life and the situation seemed to have improved significantly.

“If something was bothering him, I’m sure he would say he was struggling with serious problems. The fact that he took his own life in the home of his beloved parents suggests that this decision was the result of a sudden impulse.”

She stated that she believed his death was “probably caused” by an adverse reaction to medications he had started and then stopped in the weeks before his death.

Lady Gabriella, 43, whom Thomas married at Windsor Castle in 2019, said: ‘In the absence of any evidence of predisposition, it seems highly likely to me that he had an adverse reaction to the pills which led him to take himself. life. I believe that anyone taking such pills should be more aware of their side effects to prevent future deaths. If it could happen to Tom, it could happen to anyone.

Recording narrative conclusions, Ms Skerrett said: “Mr Kingston took his own life using a shotgun which caused a serious traumatic wound to the head. Testimony from his wife, family and business partner confirm his lack of suicidal intent. He was suffering adverse effects from medications that had recently been prescribed.”

Dr David Healy, a specialist in psychiatry, gave evidence at the inquest and said zopiclone can also cause anxiety, while sertraline and citalopram are SSRIs and are essentially the same thing.

Dr Healy said Mr Kingston’s complaints that sertraline continued to cause him anxiety meant that SSRIs “were not suitable for him” and he should not be prescribed the same medicine again. He said guidelines and labels on SSRIs were not clear enough, particularly about how to take the drugs or what the effects of switching from one drug to another might be.

He said: “We need a much clearer statement that these drugs can cause suicide in people who would not otherwise do so.”

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Samaritans free of charge, even from a mobile phone without credit, at any time of the day or night on 116 123. Alternatively, you can send an email to: [email protected]