A Melbourne cancer researcher died of a caffeine overdose in her Melbourne apartment in April 2021 after consuming caffeine tablets.
As reported by 9News, 32-year-old Christina Lackmann called emergency services after she couldn’t get off the floor and started experiencing dizziness, light-headedness and numbness. She died in her bathroom.
Coroner Says if Paramedics Attended to Lackmann Sooner, She Might Have Survived
Coroner Catherine Fitzgerald has ruled in inquest findings that if she had been treated sooner, she might have survived. Fitzgerald highlighted errors in the response to Lackmann’s call, including being unable to transfer her call to a health practitioner for further assessment.
Lackmann’s case was categorised as non-urgent. At no time during the call did Lackmann disclose that she had taken caffeine tablets, or what had caused her symptoms.
She was told to keep her phone line free so she could be called back. Ambulance Victoria staff attempted to call her back 14 times and sent one text – but all attempts were left unanswered. About an hour later, her call priority was upgraded to improve her chances of having an ambulance dispatched.
However, two ambulances assigned to her were diverted to higher-priority cases. Paramedics finally gained access to Lackmann’s Caulfield North apartment shortly before 3am, seven hours and 11 minutes after her first call. She was pronounced dead soon after.
The coroner also criticised Ambulance Victoria’s failure to provide care to Lackmann, describing the wait time as “unacceptable” – as more than 80 per cent of their fleet was ramped at major hospitals and unable to respond to emergencies on the night she died.
Lackmann Had Ordered Caffeine Tablets Online, Post-Mortem Report Confirmed Potentially Fatal Concentration of Caffeine in Her System
An email on Lackmann’s phone found that an iHerb order of caffeine tablets had been delivered to her apartment the day she made the call for help. Despite searches of the apartment, neither the tablets nor their packaging was found.
In her written findings handed down on Friday, Fitzgerald said a toxicological analysis of post-mortem blood samples and stomach contents identified the presence of caffeine at a very high and potentially fatal concentration.
The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine’s chief toxicologist, Dimitri Gerostamoulos, explained that the concentration of caffeine detected in Lackmann’s blood could not be achieved by drinking excessive amounts of coffee.
