Body of Elsie (80) flown home from California

A woman who died in California, and whose body was then flown home to England, died from morphine toxicity.

By The Newsroom

Published 22nd Jan 2015, 07:50 BST

An inquest at Burnley Magistrates’ Court into the death of San Diego resident Elsie Coupe-Tenant (80) heard how the family had not been happy with the original cause of death given by the coroner in California.

Mrs Coupe-Tenant, who suffered from spinal arthritis, was taken to hospital on August 11th when her husband had found her in the morning unresponsive. An MRI scan revealed she was suffering from brain seizures.

She never regained consciousness.

Mrs Tenant had been taking morphine to help with the pain in her back and the medical examiner concluded that it had been this that had led to the seizures.

East Lancashire assistant coroner Mark Williams agreed with the report and recorded a conclusion of accidental death.