Man who died in parents' Wodonga home addicted after work accident

Daniel Joseph Herbert, 37, was found face down in his parents' house in Wodonga on October 29, 2018.

Police believe he had extracted the contents of fentanyl patches into a syringe, injected the drug into his arm, and passed out and died.

His death came after 17 years of substance abuse, initially sparked by his injury.

The contents of Mr Herbert's bedroom showed how gripped he was by pharamaceuticals with police finding packets for diazepam, Valpam, Clonidine, pregabalin, Lyrica, three sharps containers with used syringes, two empty packets of 50mg fentanyl patches, and a syringe on the floor between his legs.

Mr Herbert suffered a back injury while working as a concreter aged about 20, and was prescribed the opioid drug OxyContin for pain relief and Valium for depression.

His parents said he became addicted to OxyContin during this period and stopped working.

His addiction escalated when he moved into a home on his own in Snowdon Street.

Mr Herbert's partner and mother of his child said the pair were heavy cannabis users and he would take "whatever drugs he could get his hands on".

Both used needles.

Coronial findings into the death were handed down this week, which followed a report last week noting 100 people had died due to overdoses in the North East in the past decade.

Prescription medication, rather than illegal drugs, were the biggest killer.

Coroner Audrey Jamieson noted Mr Herbert's cause of death was the combined drug toxicity of methadone, fentanyl, diazepam and pregabalin - all of which are issued by chemists.

Amphetamines and cannabis were also found in his system.

He had been seeing Dr Phillip Steele at the Federation Clinic in Wodonga at the time of his back injury, but Mr Herbert's father said the doctor ended up "kicking him out".

No other doctors would prescribe him the medications he wanted.

The coroner said Mr Herbert started seeing Dr Julian Fidge in Wangaratta, who identified him as a doctor shopper and enacted a plan to reduce his harm from the practice and his usage.

He started opioid replacement therapy seven months before his death and was given limited quantities of medications.

Mr Herbert visited Dr Cornelius Kruytbosch in Albury about 10 weeks before his death.

He said he had nerve damage in his fingers to his forearm and said he had anxiety and depression.

He was given a script for pregabalin tables with five repeats and two diazepam scripts, but the doctor later received a call from a pharmacy saying Mr Herbert was a known doctor shopper.

Dr Kruytbosch decided to cancel the script, but a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme history shows the scripts were dispensed at Chiltern pharmacy.

It was unclear how this occurred.

He was prescribed 520 tablets of diazepam by three doctors in the three months before his death.

Evidence suggests the late man bought fentanyl patches from a man called "Roger" a short time before his death.

But the coroner also noted that while doctors overprescribed pregabalin and diazepam to the late man, the overlapping of their prescriptions allowed him to obtain excessive amounts of the drugs.

The doctors appeared unaware the others were prescribing the same drugs to the 37-year-old at the same time.

"Mr Herbert was prescribed in amounts that significantly exceeded the clinical directions for consumption, particularly in the three months immediately prior to his death," Ms Jamieson said.

Concerns have been raised about the harms caused by pregabalin, which is used to treat anxiety, epilepsy and pain.

It can increase the depressant effects of opioids, benzodiazepines and alcohol.

"This case is a further example that pregablin is not a harmless drug," Ms Jamieson said.

While Mr Herbert was jailed in April 2018, which allowed him to get off drugs, gain weight and become healthy, he returned to using once released.

Andrew Hick, who manages Odyssey House in Benalla, said anecdotal evidence suggested opioids were an increasing problem in the North East, and prescription drugs more broadly a growing issue.

Ice and alcohol are still the main concerns, and he said it often takes three to four months for people to receive a rehab bed "if all the planets align for you".

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"The people we feel particularly sorry for are the parents who ring up looking for help for their children," he said.

"God forbid, if your child was dying of leukemia or a brain tumor, the community rallies around and supports people.

"But if your child is dying of a drug addiction, it's much harder to get help.

"We have hundreds of conversations with parents in the North East.

"It's awful.

"It's tragic and you really feel sorry that help isn't immediately available."

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