'Dr Death' drugs history probed

Shipman was convicted in January last year of 15 murders

MANCHESTER, England -- A public inquiry has opened in Britain to look into the deaths of 466 hospital patients linked to mass murderer Doctor Harold Shipman.

On its first day, the inquiry heard how Shipman was convicted of forging prescriptions for a painkiller in 1975.

The once respected family doctor, dubbed "Doctor Death" by the British media, was convicted in January last year of murdering 15 elderly female patients.

Prosecutors say he may have killed hundreds more during his 24 years as a general practitioner in Hyde near the northern city of Manchester.

Counsel for the inquiry, Caroline Swift QC, said on Wednesday: "From the moment when the inquiry team was first assembled we were determined that wherever possible worried relatives should receive an answer to the question, 'Did Shipman kill my parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or friend.'"

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The inquiry, which is expected to last two years, began with an overview of Shipman's career from 1974 to the time of his arrest in 1998.

Some 20 relatives of Shipman's suspected victims listened as Swift told the inquiry Shipman was forced to resign from practice in 1975 -- just 18 months into his first job as a doctor -- after being convicted of forging prescriptions for a painkiller.

Shipman admitted his addiction and received treatment. He was fined $660.

In 1977, he accepted another medical job and was considered an esteemed member of the staff. He left in 1992 to set up a one-man practice.

In March 1998 another doctor expressed concern about the number of cremation certificates Shipman asked him to co-sign, but police concluded there was not enough evidence to pursue charges.

The investigation that led to his conviction was reopened months later after the daughter of an 81-year-old widow discovered her mother had apparently changed her will to leave everything to Shipman.

Inquests have added another 25 to Shipman's list of unlawful killings, and a report has linked him directly to 236 more suspicious deaths.

A comparison with family practices in the area showed that Shipman signed 345 more death certificates than the others. Many died in the afternoon, at home and alone.

Swift said: "Those facts, horrifying as they may be, do not lead to the inescapable conclusion that Shipman is responsible for all those deaths the inquiry is investigating.

"We have been concerned in obtaining evidence that will ascertain the truth, whatever that truth may be. It is not our function to maximise or minimise Shipman's toll of deaths."

Swift said police, the Home Office and medical authorities all failed to take action to stop Shipman handling drugs despite his earlier conviction for forging prescriptions for massive quantities.

Charts had been prepared showing how Shipman had obtained supplies of diamorphine from February 1993 which were not administered to patients for whom it was being prescribed, she said.

In the one month of May 1974 he obtained 1,000mg -- sufficient to kill more than 31 people although in reality the evidence of the criminal trial suggested he was using far greater quantities.

She said in June 1996 Shipman had obtained 12,000mg of the drug -- which would be sufficient to kill 400 people.

The public inquiry under Dame Janet Smith will examine a total of 466 cases -- a number Smith said last month could rise still further as the hearings proceeded.

Smith has said she hopes the inquiry will find answers in hundreds of cases but admitted some deaths will always remain ambiguous.