Woman took paracetamol to fight flu

A 50-year-old woman taking paracetamol for the flu died of liver failure, an inquest has heard.

Marie Kearns, from Emmet Buildings, Dublin, died on February 19, 2015. She had visited her doctor the week before her death with flu-like symptoms. She was diagnosed with the flu and a chest infection, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

“I last spoke to my mother the previous Saturday. She said she had been feeling unwell and would go to the doctor,” said the woman’s son Mark Kearns.

The woman’s sister, Catriona Wynne said she spoke to Ms Kearns by phone two days before her death. “The following day I called to her house. She didn’t look well” and had trouble speaking,

Ms Wynne said she became very concerned and called an ambulance to Emmet Buildings at 2pm on February 18.

Ms Kearns passed away at St James’s Hospital the next day. A post mortem report said the cause of death was acute liver failure due to paracetamol toxicity. There was 27mg of paracetamol per 100mls of blood in her system, taken over several days.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane returned a verdict of death by misadventure.