Alleged child sex offender found dead after methadone overdose

Tasmanian doctors still breaking the rules when it comes to prescribing a common substance, as a coroner’s report fails to find whether an alleged child sex offender’s overdose was accidental.

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A TUNNACK man who died from a methadone overdose was supplied the drug by a lax GP, a coroner has found.

Derek William Arnold, 51, was found dead in bed by his mother in January last year.

Coroner Simon Cooper found he had overdosed on methadone but could not determine if the overdose was deliberate or accidental.

However, during the coronial investigation, it was revealed Mr Arnold was, at the time of his death, on bail for historic sex offences allegedly committed against a child in Queensland.

‘It is no part of the role of a coroner to pass judgment on the truth or otherwise of those allegations. I note that there were just that – allegations. Nonetheless, undoubtedly allegations of that type (true or not) could certainly cause anyone distress,” Mr Cooper said.

The coroner found the GP who had prescribed Mr Arnold with methadone in Tasmania since 2014, had committed 35 breaches of the Poison’s Act.

“Mr Arnold’s medical history was complex and very sad,’ Mr Cooper said.

Due to chronic ongoing pain, he was first prescribed methadone while living in Queensland in 2011 and in this state for five years before his death.

“The issue of methadone prescription has been the subject of comment by coroners in a number of cases in Tasmania. Nonetheless, deaths from methadone toxicity continue to occur. So do breaches of the law by prescribers in relation to the potent drug,” Mr Cooper said.

“The regulatory regimen established by the Poisons Act was designed to ensure the safe use of methadone.

“A failure to adhere to the requirements associated with the prescription of methadone is a serious matter with the potential to have serious and indeed fatal consequences for patients.”

Samples taken at the autopsy showed Mr Arnold had a fatal level of methadone in his body at the time of his death.

A large amount of prescription medication was found in the room in which he died.