Prague, Jan 5 (CTK) – A prisoner died after a methadone treatment he received by mistake at the Prague-Pankrac prison on December 25 since the drug substitute was prescribed for another inmate with the same surname and the guards mixed them up, daily Pravo wrote on Thursday, referring to two independent sources.
The internal controlling body of the Prison Service as well as the Czech General Inspection of Security Corps (GIBS) are investigating the case, the paper says.
The other prisoner was to receive methadone within his drug addiction treatment.
“However, the prison guards sent a wrong inmate to the treatment,” a well-informed source told Pravo.
The man died after the methadone administration in the night.
Only an autopsy can definitively confirm that methadone was really the cause of death, it adds.
Prison Service spokeswoman Petra Kucerova refused to comment on the circumstances of the prisoner’s death sice the law enforcement bodies were investigating the case. She only confirmed that he had died on December 25.
Methadone is a synthetic opiate used for the treatment of severe addictions to heroin or morphine. A doctor administers it perorally in a solution. Its wrong dosage may cause serious health troubles and exceptionally death, Pravo writes.
Jiri Presl, from the Drop In organisation helping drug addicts, points out that methadone has similar damping effects as heroin and may cause serious undesirable effects to those who have no experience with opiates, Pravo writes.
Methadone provokes somnolence and the person may suffocate with his own vomit in sleep, Presl told Pravo.
The tragic mistake was accompanied by a series of unfortunate circumstances. Along with the same surname of both inmates, they also stayed on the same floor and the man sent to the methadone therapy by mistake was to undergo another medical treatment.
Besides, prison guards changed their shifts on Christmas Day, which may have played a negative role as well, Pravo adds.
The guards responsible for the fatal mistake have already been suspended, Pravo writes.
Pankrac Prison has been headed by Pavel Hadrava since last autumn when Prison Service head Petr Dohnal reinstalled him. Hadrava, who returned to the post after two years, resigned in November 2014 after a dangerous prisoner escaped the prison’s escort during a medical check-up, Pravo writes.
