A nurse who was struck off when her estranged husband reported her for forging prescriptions after she was the victim of a sex attack died from a Codeine overdose, an inquest heard today.
Katie Corrigan – who had been ‘desperate to become a nurse’ – suffered with anxiety and depression.
The 38-year-old, who died on August 9, also suffered a ‘traumatic event’ when she was working at the West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance when she was the victim of a serious sexual assault as she walked to her car.
Her mother Christine Taylor told the Truro inquest that her daughter ‘did not tell us or her husband at the time’ about the sex assault and ‘it just festered’.
But her mother said Katie suffered post tramautic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the assault.
Katie Corrigan – who had been ‘desperate to become a nurse’ – suffered with anxiety and depression
The inquest was told Katie went on to forge prescriptions for herself to be able to get hold of ‘thousands’ of pills, and she was then arrested and ended in court where she was given a suspended jail term and was struck off.
However, her family claimed at her inquest that she was overprescribed the painkilling drug.
Her mother said: ‘She obviously lost her nursing registration and was devastated by this, her whole career she had worked really hard for.’
In 2019, a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel suspected the fact Katie was taking ‘thousands’ of drugs suggested ‘some form of distribution’, but with no evidence to prove it, the panel accepted her claim that they were for personal use.
She was struck off after it was said she would have posed a risk to patients by attending to them while under the influence of a large quantity of drugs.
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On Christmas Eve 2017 her husband revealed he was having an affair and he left her and their two children.
Mrs Taylor said Katie’s husband Steven told police about the forged prescriptions and claimed he was ‘controlling’ during their divorce and giving her access to their children.
She said Katie was admitted to hospital in 2018 with liver issues and had paracetemol in her system but in November 2019 she took Codeine she managed to buy over the internet and was ‘very unwell after that’.
In 2019, a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel suspected the fact Katie was taking ‘thousands’ of drugs suggested ‘some form of distribution’, but with no evidence to prove it, the panel accepted her claim that they were for personal use
Her husband refused access to the children during the Covid lockdown because Mrs Taylor was nursing and Katie did not see the children for five weeks, the inquest was told.
Specialist nurse Mrs Taylor said: ‘In lockdown she was devastated. She tried her best to keep herself going but her mood was very low.
‘She was devastated her husband’s partner had more control over her children than she was allowed.’
Her family claim Katie was overprescribed Codeine by her GP surgery and that there were no investigations into her neck pain.
A post mortem said she died from a codeine overdose at her home in St Erth, Cornwall.
The inquest continues.
Source: Daily Mail
