Hospital physician who took her personal life after her NHS ketamine remedy was stopped had ‘dabbled in shopping for medication from the darkish internet’; inquest
A hospital doctor who killed herself after her NHS funding for ketamine to treat depression was stopped had resorted to buying medication on the dark web, an inquest has heard.
Dr Suzanne Parker, 37, had a history of mental ill health that dated back to her early teens and had been diagnosed as bipolar.
In 2022, she was referred by her psychiatrist to a ketamine scheme for those with ‘treatment-resistant depression’.
Dr Parker, who had worked in the older person’s medical department at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and as a clinical teaching fellow at the University of East Anglia, was given low doses orally and by intravenous infusions.
But she had to start self-funding the treatment when her local clinical commissioning group – now replaced by integrated care boards – stopped paying after the third session and she eventually stopped it as she was concerned she couldn’t afford it.
In September 2024, police attended her home in Eaton, Norfolk, after concerns were raised and her body was found.
A post-mortem examination found she had died from asphyxiation due to nitrous oxide inhalation.
At the end of a two-day inquest, coroner Johanna Thompson said she was writing to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which reviews the value for money of treatments, to highlight the benefits of ketamine.
Dr Suzanne Parker, 37, began buying medication on the dark web after NHS funding for ketamine to treat her depression was stopped
Concluding Dr Parker died by suicide, she said: ‘I shall be communicating to indicate the use of ketamine by Suzanne in relation to her condition and the benefits that she found that had been described in the inquest.’
The medic’s mother, Danielle Fairey, criticised a decision to allow her to leave Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital the day after she was admitted following an overdose on September 16, 2024 – less than a week before her death.
She said: ‘[She would have been] saveable, had the people who discharged her from hospital acted differently in those crucial days.’
The hearing was told that Dr Parker’s mental health problems began after she injured herself on a trampoline aged 13.
Following the accident, she developed transient ischaemic attack, or mini-strokes, caused when there is a temporary disruption of the flow of blood to the brain.
Shortly after being diagnosed with the condition, she began self-harming and took an overdose for the first time.
Her GP, Dr Lousie Francis of the UEA Medical Centre, told the inquest she had a ‘complex’ medical history, with ‘on-going’ concerns including an eating disorder and the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2010.
In February 2022, Dr Parker began the ketamine treatment with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust after a referral.
Dr Parker, whose body was found by police at her home in Eaton, Norfolk, on September 22, 2024, had co-founded Headucate, a student society that raises awareness of mental health issues and runs workshops
Professor Rupert McShane, who leads the service, said three of the £200 sessions had been funded by her local CCG but she then had to pay for them herself, until she stopped in May 2024.
If she had been a resident of Oxford, the coroner was told, the NHS funding would have continued.
A relapse in Dr Parker’s mental health followed and she described feeling ‘hopeless for the future and isolated’, with concerns including funding her treatment, job security and the health of her cats.
She paid for a final ketamine infusion on September 11, 2024, and the doctor who performed the procedure said a graph she produced to show her symptoms revealed a ‘gradual decline’ since she had stopped the treatment six months earlier.
Ms Thompson commented: ‘Professor McShane’s evidence had been that further treatment would have been needed for the benefit to have been derived from restarting the ketamine.
‘In his evidence he was unequitable about the positive benefits of ketamine therapy in reducing suicidality in patients with treatment resistant conditions, such as Suzy had.’
Dr Parker took the overdose a few days later but left hospital the following day.
Her mother added: ‘I’m surprised she was allowed to return home. However, it may be likely that she self-discharged as she wanted to be home for her cats.’
The gifted academic gained a first in philosophy and English literature at the University of East Anglia in 2008 and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge before returning to UEA and graduating from Norwich Medical School
Victoria Kelly, a friend who visited Dr Parker in hospital, told the inquest: ‘She told me she had taken [medication] that she managed to purchase on the dark web.
‘I have no idea how Suzy managed to access the dark web, or had learned how to access it, but I felt that she had found it thrilling to do so.’
Police found the medic’s body just five days later, on September 22.
Dr Parker graduated with a first-class degree in philosophy and English literature at the University of East Anglia in 2008 and then gained an MPhil from the University of Cambridge.
She returned to the UEA and graduated from Norwich Medical School before starting her medical career.
While studying medicine, she co-founded Headucate, a student society that raises awareness of mental health issues and runs workshops.
The charity said after her death: ‘Her incredible and inspiring mission to destigmatise mental health has made a huge impact on many university students and young people.’
In a tribute at the time, her mother described her as ‘bright, intelligent, loving, caring, passionate with an incredible sense of humour’.
Ms Thompson said at the end of the inquest: ‘I would like to express to Suzy’s family my most sincere condolences. I am very, very sorry for your loss.’
