A MAN died after taking a de-worming drug for animals as he believed it would cure cancer, an inquest heard.
Lee Redpath, 45, was rushed to hospital with signs of liver failure after dosing himself with an anti-parasitic drug called fenbendazole across a three-week period.
He tragically died in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge , on April 29.
Lee had ordered the drug, believing it to be safe, from a supplier in Ukraine .
The 45-year-old saw fake social media posts which claimed fenbendazole could be a cancer cure – despite it being banned for human use.
It’s designed to be used against a number of gastrointestinal parasites in animals including giardia, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, tapeworms and pinworms.
However, even A-list celebrities have promoted the drug for humans, including actor Mel Gibson.
He told Joe Rogan earlier this year how three of his friends were cured of stage four cancer after taking it with the anti-parasitic Ivermectin.
The inquest, held in Lawrence Court, Huntingdon, Cambs, heard how Lee believed the de-wormer could prevent cancer.
His long-term partner Lauren Laul gave evidence at the inquest.
She told how her boyfriend believed it was safe to use and popular in the States.
“He saw it online, thought it was safe, people in America are using it,” said Lauren.
“He didn’t have medical assistance taking it so I think some sort of warning should be made.
“I am seeing it advertised online and people can get it themselves like Lee did and unknowingly be killing themselves because they didn’t have all the information.”
Lauren also suggested Lee may have been taking them for as long as two years before his death.
Dr Gwilym Webb, a consultant hepatologist at Addenbrooke’s warned fenbendazole had “no proven benefit for preventing or treating cancer in humans.”
He told the inquest Lee was not eligible for a liver transplant due to alcohol misuse in the three months before.
But a post-mortem concluded Lee’s liver failure was due to the fenbendazole.
Assistant coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Caroline Jones, concluded Lee died of liver and renal failure due to fenbendazole induced liver injury on a background of alcohol related cirrhosis.
“I was satisfied as to the toxic effects of fenbendazole and that it was this that was the primary cause of the injury,” she told the inquest.
“It is a potent anti-worming treatment which was taken at far higher relative doses than had ever been envisaged and over a far longer time scale.
“During his admission he advised doctors that he had been taking the drug fenbendazole, which he purchased online from a supplier in the Ukraine after seeing videos about its supposed anti-cancer properties.
“It was thought likely fenbendazole was the primary cause of the acute injury. Lee’s conditions deteriorated despite treatment but he was not a candidate for transplant.
“He improved briefly but on April 27 his condition worsened, it was recognised Lee’s organs were failing and he passed away at 6.06 pm on April 29.
“While Lee may have taken fenbendazole with good intentions to improve his health, it constituted a deliberate act with the unintended consequence of his death.”
Lauren urged the coroner to write a prevention of future deaths report, but Miss Jones denied her request.
The coroner said there was not “sufficient evidence”, although she was “concerned” about people buying the drug online.
Lee’s death was recorded as misadventure.
