AUS: Vet staff took their own lives with 'easily accessible' animal euthanasia drugs

[Jabberwocky]

Two young South Australian women who worked at vet clinics were able to take their own lives with easily accessible drugs used to put down animals, the coroner?s court has heard.

In separate tragedies, 30-year-old vet Amy Patterson was found dead in her Colonel Light Gardens practice while veterinary student Erin Murray, 25, was doing work experience at Brighton and died at home.

The barbiturate used by vets to euthanase animals kills in just 30 seconds. The womens? deaths have prompted calls for much tighter controls.

?Both young women had ready accessibility to this drug where the drug is stored in an unlocked cupboard,? counsel assisting the coroner, Kathryn Waite, said.

The court heard the barbiturate doesn?t have to be kept under lock and key but ?these requirements are inadequate and should be changed,? Ms Waite added.

The head of the Veterinary Surgeons? Board wants stricter controls, but says his hands are tied.

?We don?t have enough power over a clinic to be able to deal with the matters the way they should be,? John Strachan said.

The court heard that just a week before she died, Erin Murray was told she?d failed half of her veterinary subjects and she had taken that setback very badly.

The deputy coroner says he?s likely to recommend the drug be re-classified so it must be locked away.


Source: https://au.news.yahoo.com/vet-staff...ssible-animal-euthanasia-drugs-130140020.html

 

[spacejunk]

oh man. that's fucking heartbreaking

i hate how every time shit like this happens, they never say "how can we improve the mental health of young students under massive pressure to achieve" or anything like that - it's always about increasing security, so people can't commit suicide with such apparent ease.

"easily accessible drugs"
"stricter controls"
"We don't have enough power over a clinic to be able to deal with the matters the way they should be"
"The court heard the barbiturate doesn't have to be kept under lock and key"
"these requirements are inadequate and should be changed"


i dunno, maybe it's just me - but i think what they're focussing on is entirely missing the real point.
maybe it's got more to do with the fact that they wanted to end their own lives, than the fact that they were able to do so in a manner that didn't involve violence or physical trauma.
to me it just seems sad. i don't think prohibition and obsessive regulatory fear of drugs has ever stopped anyone from committing suicide.

 

[Jabberwocky]

oh man. that's fucking heartbreaking

i hate how every time shit like this happens, they never say "how can we improve the mental health of young students under massive pressure to achieve" or anything like that - it's always about increasing security, so people can't commit suicide with such apparent ease.

"easily accessible drugs"
"stricter controls"
"We don't have enough power over a clinic to be able to deal with the matters the way they should be"
"The court heard the barbiturate doesn't have to be kept under lock and key"
"these requirements are inadequate and should be changed"


i dunno, maybe it's just me - but i think what they're focussing on is entirely missing the real point.
maybe it's got more to do with the fact that they wanted to end their own lives, than the fact that they were able to do so in a manner that didn't involve violence or physical trauma.
to me it just seems sad. i don't think prohibition and obsessive regulatory fear of drugs has ever stopped anyone from committing suicide.

Yep fair fucked. A catch 22 is I can go to the store and buy booze and have an accident and maybe kill someone but hey that's not the alcohols fault.

 

[spacejunk]

Yeah, it's fucked up.
Maybe there is sound reason for locking the stuff up, then fair enough - i just dont like the way they report on it - the discussion is so focused around that all drugs need to be heavily controlled, that [whatever drug] is bad and/or scary. Needs to be locked away.

People fatally OD on paracetamol pills you can buy in supermarkets - but i havent heard many people calling for it to be restricted or highly regulated.

Cigarettes kill you, it just takes lot longer. Tobacco is also sold openly, all over the place.


I have to wonder, do these people think that shooting up vet euthanasia drugs for kicks is going to be the next big thing?

 

[Jabberwocky]

Wonder what kinda dose you need to die ?

 

[Jabberwocky]

I'd be willing to bet erowid has an LD50 on it. Else it's definitely google-able.

IIRC this is also a barb that's commonly been used as part of lethal injection protocols in certain US states.

 

[Mel22]

oh man. that's fucking heartbreaking

i hate how every time shit like this happens, they never say "how can we improve the mental health of young students under massive pressure to achieve" or anything like that - it's always about increasing security, so people can't commit suicide with such apparent ease.

"easily accessible drugs"
"stricter controls"
"We don't have enough power over a clinic to be able to deal with the matters the way they should be"
"The court heard the barbiturate doesn't have to be kept under lock and key"
"these requirements are inadequate and should be changed"


i dunno, maybe it's just me - but i think what they're focussing on is entirely missing the real point.
maybe it's got more to do with the fact that they wanted to end their own lives, than the fact that they were able to do so in a manner that didn't involve violence or physical trauma.
to me it just seems sad. i don't think prohibition and obsessive regulatory fear of drugs has ever stopped anyone from committing suicide.

Absolutely. I will never understand how this isn't obvious to everyone.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

Yep fair fucked. A catch 22 is I can go to the store and buy booze and have an accident and maybe kill someone but hey that's not the alcohols fault.

there is an epidemic of american of drunk people killing people in crashes and getting drunk and doing violent things. No calls to ban or ration alcohol. becuase they learned their lesson during prohbition. Don't understand why the approach with less harmful drugs than alcohol is so different. Its purely cultrual and religion views at the root.

 

[spacejunk]

Its purely cultrual and religion views at the root.

Probably. Plus, brewers and other alcohol manufacturers and retailers often have close links (and political donations) to political parties.