PENSIONER Rosemary Masters, of Devizes, killed herself by drinking an entire bottle of morphine prescribed to her by a doctor.
An inquest in Trowbridge heard today that Mrs Masters, who lived alone in a flat at The Croft in Meadow Drive, had made a living will in 1998 and did not want to go to hospital or be resusciated in the event that she collapsed.
Mrs Masters, a 69-year-old widow, had suffered from emphysema for 15 years and was hooked up to an oxygen tank.
When her condition deteriorated Dr Timothy Monelle, a GP at Lansdowne Surgery in Devizes, prescribed her medication including a liquid form of morphine.
He had prescribed her to take five ml doses four times a day but she drank the entire 100 ml bottle in one afternoon. She died the following morning at home on October 24 last year.
A police investigation was launched to see whether mother of six Mrs Masters had been assisted by family members in consuming the morphine but they were cleared of any involvement.
Wiltshire coroner David Masters said there was "overwhelming" evidence that Mrs Masters had wanted to kill herself.
He said: "She was a strong willed woman, she knew what she was doing."
He recorded a verdict of suicide and said the cause of death was morphine toxicity adding that a significiant contributory cause was her servere chronic obstructive airways disease.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article