A Dublin man who had polio took his own life eight days after starting a course of medication for depression, an inquest heard yesterday.
Patrick Fitzpatrick (58), Shanid Road, Harold's Cross, a retired watch-repairer, was discovered in his home by his brother, Anthony Fitzpatrick, and a locum doctor, Dr Ronan Donohoe, at about 1pm on September 28th last year. He had attached a note to the door on the downstairs room which read: "Do not open. Call the guards. I have shot myself."
A postmortem by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis confirmed that Mr Fitzpatrick died from a gunshot wound to the head. There were no suspicious circumstances.
The inquest heard that Mr Fitzpatrick, who had suffered from polio since the age of two or three and spent many years in hospital when he was young, attended the practice of his local GP, Dr Robert Hickey, on September 19th, where he was prescribed the anti-depression medication, Lexapro. It was the first time Mr Fitzpatrick had attended the practice with a medical complaint. He returned on September 22nd, and told Dr Hickey he was still feeling very down.
Dr Hickey told him that he had been on the drug for only three days and that it took 10 days "to kick in". The court heard that on the evening of September 27th, Mr Fitzpatrick's family became concerned for his wellbeing because he was very depressed.
"He was very agitated about his condition - more than usual - and I asked him if he wanted me to stay the night, but he said no," said Anthony Fitzpatrick.
The following day Anthony called to the practice of Dr Hickey because of his concerns about his brother's medication.
He then called at his brother's house at 1pm, accompanied by a locum GP at the practice, Dr Ronan Donohoe, and discovered his brother was dead.
Anthony told the court the family was concerned that Dr Hickey failed to stress to his brother that "it's a well-known fact that Lexapro will make your symptoms worse for seven days".
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell adjourned the inquest to a date in September to give Dr Hickey the opportunity to address the family's concerns.