Review by health boards vital

The circumstances leading to the exhumation of the remains of a patient from a Wicklow cemetery yesterday should encourage a review of security in institutions where medication is dispensed, especially in hospitals.

Another exhumation may be ordered as gardaí investigate allegations of patients being given medication in excess of what was prescribed for them.

The garda investigation was prompted by information from the South Western Area Health Board, which is conducting its own independent medical investigation in the hospital involved.