Decision Report 201302411

Summary

Mr C, who is a prisoner, complained that the board stopped his pain medication after he was sent to prison. The medication (gabapentin) had been prescribed by his GP. However, Mr C was also on methadone (a drug used medically as a heroin substitute). Doctors in the prison told him that it was recommended that methadone and gabapentin were not prescribed together, and prescribed a different medication for his pain.

After taking independent advice from one of our medical advisers, we found that there was potential for harm if the doctors in the prison had continued to prescribe gabapentin while Mr C was still on high doses of methadone. The prison doctors had also offered reasonable pain killing alternatives when the gabapentin was stopped. In view of this, we did not uphold Mr C's complaint.