Poet ‘discharged into thin air' before death
Ian Loughran was found dead in his home on July 19, 2021. PHOTO: ODT FILES
A family member of a Dunedin author who died by suspected suicide says he was "discharged into thin air" after being admitted to hospital for his mental health.
Ian Loughran was found dead in his home on July 19, 2021, aged 55, and this week in the Dunedin District Court, Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale is overseeing an inquest into his death.
Mr Loughran was a poet, well-known volunteer and award-winning stand-up comedian.
He read his poems for audiences around the globe and wrote numerous plays, as well as hosting two radio shows.
The inquest would explore six points, including the competency of Mr Loughran's care and communication between specialists.
Yesterday the court heard from a member of Mr Loughran's family, who talked about his downward spiral.
The woman, who has name suppression, said she was "greatly concerned" about aspects of his mental healthcare in the months before his death and made wide-reaching assertions.
She felt Mr Loughran did not receive enough follow-up care after he was discharged from hospital, and it was not clear who she should contact if she was concerned — other than a generic emergency number.
She also gave evidence about an "inappropriate" phone call from a psychiatrist after her husband's death and Mr Loughran being prescribed the same medication by two clinicians.
The woman said Mr Loughran had often struggled with his sleep and "bouts of depression", about which he felt shameful.
Between August 2020 and January 2021, he had "manic and depressive highs and lows", the inquest heard.
After a concerning incident in which police were involved, Mr Loughran was unwillingly put into the secure unit at Wakari Hospital.
"He was manic. He was, you could say, like a caged animal; he did not want to be held against his will ... he did not want to be there," the witness said.
At the end of the five days Mr Loughran felt "fearful for his personal safety" and said he was willing to comply with every recommendation in order to get out of the ward.
The family were unaware of just how unwell he was, and she was supportive of his discharge despite scepticism about his willingness to follow through with treatment in the community.
Yesterday, the woman questioned the decision to discharge Mr Loughran given his unstable state.
"He was basically being discharged into thin air," she said.
He was in the ward for the statutory five-day period and after he was released, the family member noticed he was different.
"He was much calmer but he seemed like a zombie to me and not himself," she said.
The family member contacted the Emergency Psychiatric Service on multiple occasions after Mr Loughran's discharge.
She resisted sectioning him under the Mental Health Act but ultimately did, and he was admitted to hospital again.
Mr Loughran was living alone, but after his second discharge she and another family member stayed with him for a few days in July 2021.
She then went on a trip out of town and on July 17 she received a text from Mr Loughran that said: "Love you so much xx."
That was the last she heard from him.
On July 18, she got back to Dunedin and made many attempts to contact Mr Loughran with no response.
The next day, the woman was phoned by Mr Loughran's psychiatrist Dr Chris Wisely to say that he had missed an appointment that day.
He had up to 14 missed calls from his mental health team, but no welfare check was completed — another concern raised by the woman at the inquest yesterday.
She went to the house to check on him.
When she arrived, the curtains were drawn and all of the lights were off, apart from the microwave light.
She used her phone torch to see.
"I could see him in his bed, I could see his face. It didn't look good," she said.
She said the next day, Dr Wisely called her.
"Some of the things he asked me were not appropriate," she said.
"He was fishing for information asking if I thought Ian had done it accidentally ... he asked if he was a drinker."
She said Dr Wisely recommended an undertaker who could make Mr Loughran "look good" and "joked and laughed" about things he had said in their meetings.
The inquest is expected to continue for the rest of the week.
felicity.dear@odt.co.nz , Court reporter
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