Pubdate: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand) Copyright: 2004 New Zealand Herald Contact: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300 Author: Bridget Carter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?158 (Club Drugs) CORONER MUTED ON PARTY-DRUG DEATH The outcome of an inquest into the country's first reported death from the party drug One4B has been released almost three years on, but has not delivered any adverse findings. Auckland coroner Sarn Herdson said just who gave Shawn Brenner the drug that killed him and exactly how much he took remained unknown. She said she would not give any warnings about One4B, as the drug had since been made illegal. Whether earlier medical attention would have saved Mr Brenner, it was "impossible to know". The coroner's findings on the high-profile death of the 22-year-old were released yesterday, almost three years after he was taken to hospital and became the country's first person to die from taking One4B (1,4 butanediol). Ms Herdson found that Mr Brenner died on April 28, 2001, as a result of complications from an overdose of the drug, including severe brain damage and pneumonia. The promising young engineering student had been living in a Ponsonby house which doubled as a consultation room for his father, gynaecologist Bernie Brenner. The night he became critically ill, he had been at the house with girlfriend Michelle Frenkel and friends, who had also been taking One4B. The drug is a variant of GHB or Fantasy. He took the drug around 3.45pm and began convulsing, fell unconscious, vomited in his sleep and lost colour in his face. Friends checked on him at regular intervals, and when he stopped breathing they called an ambulance. Both Mr Brenner and Ms Frenkel were taken to Auckland Hospital. Differing stories were given at the coroner's court hearing in July about who gave Mr Brenner the drug. Ms Frenkel, in evidence, said it was his friend Brendon Jones, with whom she and Mr Brenner had taken One4B on other occasions. But Mr Jones said in his statement that either Mr Brenner or Ms Frenkel had poured a drink containing the One4B. At the time of the hearing, the Brenner family asked the coroner to find that it was others who had given Mr Brenner a dangerous dose. But yesterday, Mr Brenner's mother, Carol, said she was not surprised at the coroner's findings and did not want to comment on them. Katerina Cowper, who was at the house the night Mr Brenner died, said she also did not want to comment on the findings. A relative of one of Mr Brenner's friends, who was with him before he died, said most of those at the house that night now lived overseas. Ms Herdson said it was acknowledged by all parties at the inquest that it was not the function of the coroner to assign blame or liability, and she credited the Brenner family for their focus on urging caution about the potential harm of recreational drugs. She said she would have made formal recommendations about the risks associated with GHB, but that task had been superseded by the introduction of legislation. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom