Coroners Report and now Inquest...how do I understand findings?

[yohoohoo]

My best friend in the world who I'd known for over 40 years died a month ago. Signs showed she may have and I say may have taken her own life but Im not sure if it was a cry for help that went too far...went wrong. The Coroners office called her daughter quoting levels of this and millgrams of X were found etc which means nothing to us. There is now to ne an inquest and it will go to court.

The 9 page report is coming to me to read as the daughter cant face it. What detail will it give? Why is an inquest being held? Is there anyone who can go through it with us so we can understand it better?

[scurryfunge]

There will be an inquest because the death was presumably sudden and unexpected. There are various outcomes a coroner will decide..misadventure, accidental, etc. Is there a trusted family friend who can make sense of the data? Having said that, it s he coroners job to decide based on the information available.

[Mungobungo]

Telephone the coroners office and ask for a bit more clarification, but be aware that they will only speak to the next of kin. So may be worth writing a list of questions for the daughter to ask and have the phone on speaker?

When we recently lost a relative, I spoke to the coroner after the post mortem and they gave a list of rather long words, some of which I figured out, some baffled me, so I asked there and then for them to simplify things which they happily did. They are used to being very factual and will give you details ignore you ask for them. They want you to be able to understand how your loved one died so that you can then heal and grieve.

The inquest itself will go through the events surrounding the death and the coroner's report and a decision will then be made as to how they categorise the death e.g suicide, misadventure, natural causes etc.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I do hope that you get some answers x

[mineofuselessinformation]

Mungo has the right idea, but get your friend to call and give permission for you to speak.
Ask your friend for a list of questions that she would like you to ask (ask her if she would like you to ask further questions if you feel it appropriate, and if she doesn't, don't).
Go into a separate room and close the door if she doesn't want to hear the conversation. Write down the answers for her.

[yohoohoo]

She has given permission foe me the call. She was very asrute with pain killers and took them for a while for various illnesses. She wluld know Im sure how many not yo take but she would also take 3 instead of 2 tablets if she was in lots of pain she always knew best. Think we want to know things like x amount of codiene was traced which is equivilant to 20 tablets or 2 tablets so we have a clear understanding of whether it was meant or accidental. Although there was a note she had left it doesnt add up...the time wasnt right if that makes sense. She often wrote feelings down.

[Babyroobs]

My mum dies of an accidental overdose of painkillers and we had coroners and an inquest. She did have a history of psychiatric problems but the conclusion was that the overdose was accidental. The inquest is nothing to worry about, they may call people to give evidence such as your friend's GP or they may just ask for reports and read them at the inquest. I'm sorry for your loss.

[thetreesarebare]

Your friends daughter can make an appt with her gp to go over the report. May need a longer than normal appt so just let them know.