Pubdate: Sat, 17 Dec 2005
Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: 2005 Telegraph Group Limited
Contact:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/114
Author: Paul Stokes
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Sativex
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

CALL FOR CANNABIS TRIALS TO BE HALTED AFTER MOTHER DIES

The family of a diabetic woman who died after developing mental
problems while undergoing a cannabis-based treatment have called for
trials of the drug to be halted.

A coroner decided yesterday that Rene Anderson's reaction to the drug
Sativex was a "significant contributory factor" in the onset of the
illness which killed her.

Mrs Anderson, 69, a retired supermarket worker, was taking part in a
trial to determine whether cannabis-based treatments could help
relieve the effects of diabetic neuropathy which caused nerve pain in
her hands and feet.

She was said to have developed "disturbed behaviour" within hours of
taking Sativex in September 2003 as part of the Diabetes UK-funded
project at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield.

Mrs Anderson began telling her family that there were X-ray cameras on
the roof of the house, that the police had planted drugs at her home
and officers were circling in a helicopter.

Her family contacted the hospital, describing her as "confused and
intoxicated" and within three days the level of the drug was reduced.
After she had been taking the drug for 28 days, her family reported
her as "not the same person" and she was admitted to the Royal
Hallamshire where her physical condition dramatically worsened.

Mrs Andreson then became immobile and suffered from a range of
problems. She died of acute kidney failure on March 3 2004 after being
transferred to the city's Northern General Hospital for renal treatment.

Chris Dorries, the Sheffield coroner, recorded a narrative verdict
after a week-long inquest in the city.

He said: "On the balance of probabilities, an idiosyncratic reaction
to a trial drug (either alone or in combination with other
medications) was at least a significant contributory factor to the
initiation of this illness."

Jacqui Sadler, Mrs Anderson's daughter, said after the inquest that
she believed her mother had been used as a guinea pig and called for
the trials to be scrapped.

She said her mother, who had two children and four grandchildren, had
decided to go on the trial of the drug - which is licensed in Canada -
as a last resort. 
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