When Paul Clark moved from Scotland to Greater Manchester in 1997, he left his past behind him.
He met his wife, Joy, in Stockport and together they had a son. The 55-year-old was an “amazing dad,” wholly devoted to his four children.
Paul worked in drug and alcohol support services and was highly respected within Narcotics Anonymous, a network of recovering addicts helping others achieve and maintain sobriety. Having battled addiction himself, Paul understood the struggles of those he helped.
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He used his own harrowing experiences with drugs over many years to offer hope and guidance to others, inspiring users to transform their lives.
(Image: UGC/FAMILY/MEN)
Paul had turned his life around for his children, having been free from his heroin addiction for over 10 years. However, a visit to his GP changed everything, reports the Manchester Evening News.
As a diabetic, he had been experiencing severe nerve pain intermittently over the last few years. Initially prescribed co-codamol then pregabalin, he was tragically given zomorph, a slow-release form of morphine, which is an opioid.
Despite his previous drug issues being well documented in his medical notes, the decision to prescribe him an opioid led him back into the grip of addiction.
Tragic Paul was found lifeless earlier this year due to a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs at his home.
An inquest led by South Manchester coroner Alison Mutch unearthed serious concerns. She said “No evidence before the inquest that the inherent risks of reintroducing opioids to someone who had previously been addicted to them were considered or monitored.”
(Image: Gary Oakley/Manchester Evening News)
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, the coroner issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Royal College of General Practitioners and Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board.
In the harrowing aftermath, Paul’s grief-stricken family is demanding change, as echoed by the coroner’s warning that unless GPs wise up to the perils, history is doomed to repeat itself.
Joy said: “From what I know, the golden rule for doctors is not to give any form of opioids to an ex-user. We think he became addicted to all of them again. There was no heroin found in his system – everything in his system was prescribed to him.”
Distraught Joy recalled how Paul struggled under the weight of his secret addiction. “At the time of his death, he was addicted to opioids,” she shared.
He even tried to scale back on co-codamol and pregabalin, which sadly led him to zomorph, a slow-releasing morphine variant.
“He was a very proud man – he did not even tell his friends. I think he was worried that people would think bad about him, but nobody would because this was not his fault. If that medication hadn’t of been prescribed, he would not have gotten addicted again. He should not have been prescribed what he was.
“I am really angry and devastated. I love Harry (their son) to bits, but he has been left without a dad. Paul’s parents have been left without a son. I do not want this to happen to any other family or anyone else. GPs should not prescribe these medications to ex-addicts. It should never happen. I feel like I died with him. I am not the same person.”
Joy added: “Paul helped so many people. He changed their lives…His passion was to help other people get clean.”
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