Amie Barnes: Lancashire mother-of-three tragically dies after accidental overdose of painkillers for her back
A mother-of-three tragically died following an accidental overdose on painkillers she took for chronic back pain.
Amie Barnes, 37, had been sharing a bottle of wine with her boyfriend, Jack, before going to bed at their home in Lancashire, England.
The next morning Jack said goodbye went off to work, but returned to find Ms Barnes face down, dead in their bed.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Paramedics and police were called to the house and they treated the death as suspicious due on the account of blood in her mouth and injuries to the mothers face.
However, suspicions were later dropped with it found to be pooling of blood in her mouth and the facial injury caused by Ms Barnes falling asleep on top of a vape, LancsLive reported.
The mother had been on the waiting list for spinal surgery, suffering in agony - with her GP saying in a statement that she had been prescribed various types of painkillers to cope.
Despite initial suspicion, police had ruled out an third-party involvement.
“When we arrived, Amie was lying on the floor with a cover over her,” Detective Sergeant Jamie Robinson said.
“That wasn’t where she was found, she had been moved by the paramedics.
“She was found face down and blood pools to the lowest part of the body and that explains how she was found. She also had a vape under her face and that may have caused her face to contour.”
An inquest into the midwifes death found that individually, the painkillers would not have caused her death, but Assistant Coroner Richard Taylor said “the concomitant use may have caused significant sedation which, in the absence of any other cause, may have resulted in her death”.
With a post mortem CT scan finding no natural cause of death, but the toxicology test revealed she had taken several painkillers prior to her death and there was alcohol in her system.
“It seems to me more likely than not that this was unintended and that is what we call misadventure; death is the unintended consequence of an intended act,” Coroner Taylor said.
“She may have intended to take painkillers, she was in pain, she has had a drink and may have taken more than was sensible, and that is not being judgemental.”
