Mom of 4 Died of Accidental Overdose After Taking Painkillers for 'Significant' Back Pain: Reports

Mar. 15, 2025

Louise Ryan.Photo:GoFundMe

GoFundMe

A British mother reportedly died from an accidental overdose after taking painkillers to treat back pain, a court has heard.

According to the Mayo Clinic,gabapentinis used to treat epilepsy, but is also used to “relieve pain for certain conditions in the nervous system,” whiletramadolis often used to “relieve moderate to moderately severe pain,” andmorphineis used to “treat pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment.”

“She had taken a combination of three different medications which overwhelmed her breathing reflex,” it added.

Assistant Coroner, Robert Simpson, ruled the death accidental, according to the document.

Louise Ryan.GoFundMe

Ryan, who was a mother of four, had reportedly been dealing with “significant” back pain and severe headaches and had visited her doctor multiple times before her death, per theDaily Mail.

Ryan’s boyfriend, Garry Abraham-Browne, called for emergency services after he found Ryan unconscious in her bed on Aug. 13, 2023, and performed CPR until emergency services arrived on the scene, the paper reported.

Per the inquest, Ryan had been prescribed tramadol in 2020 following a carpal tunnel procedure. Citing the coroner, theDaily Mailstated that Ryan would occasionally take morphine belonging to her boyfriend, Abraham-Browne.

He said that there had been “conversations” about her taking the drug, adding, “As I’ve already said, if she was in pain she would do what she needed to do,” per the outlet. He said he kept the morphine, which he had been prescribed, for “emergency use” and was “aware Lou took it on rare occasions.”

Simpson said during the inquest, “In the past she had significant headaches and back pain and depression on and off for many years. I am able to find, on the balance of probability, that she took the medication herself and had a reason for doing so,” according to the outlet.

“The question therefore was her aim. We know from her own text messages from the week before that she had been suffering back pain,” he continued, per the U.K.-based outlet. “The internet searches don’t suggest intent to take her own life.”

“She didn’t intend to take an overdose, and was addressing her pain,” Simpson insisted, according to the outlet.

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source: people.com