Man dies after overdosing on cough syrup

Picture for illustration

Yes, as the saying goes, too much of everything is bad!
Mark Pillar, 51, took so much of the strong syrup that his son Jack had bought for him online that his toxicity levels were 30 times the norm - and THREE times greater than a serious level. An inquest was told Mark and his son had been drinking large amounts of codeine mixed with lemonade that had been purchased from the internet.
His ex-wife, Alison Harris, told the inquest Mark had always had a problem with alcohol but had stopped drinking and started taking legal highs. After recording a verdict of a drug-related death, Coroner Ian Arrow issued a warning about the dangers of consuming codeine in large quantities.
He said: “I am satisfied he was found dead at his home address. There were two empty bottles of codeine found nearby.
“I am satisfied on the balance of probability, he had voluntary consumed the bottles. I am satisfied on the balance of probability that his death came about as a result of this.
“The publicity that surrounds this death is sufficient that the general public should be aware that the consumption of codeine, particularly codeine linctus, can be very serious and indeed fatal.”
His son, Jack Pillar, told the inquest in a statement that he had been buying bottles of cough medicine via the internet, which he would then drink with lemonade.
Jack went to his dad’s flat and found him lying on the floor near one-and -a-half empty bottles of the cough medicine.
Paramedics attended and confirmed him dead at the scene.