The nephew of racing trainer Jenny Pitman hanged himself at a top private school after taking a controversial acne drug which has been linked to depression, an inquest has heard.
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| Jenny Pitman's nephew Jack Bowlby was discovered dead while taking controversial acne drug |
Talented horseman and showjumper Jack Bowlby, 16, was found by his friends in his dorm room at the prestigious Cheltenham College after complaining of “very dark thoughts” whilst taking drug Roacutane.
The day before his death he had decided to put himself back on the acne drug, despite being taken off it after concerns were raised by close family friend and horse owner Lady Anne Vestey.
The day before his death he had decided to put himself back on the acne drug, despite being taken off it after concerns were raised by close family friend and horse owner Lady Anne Vestey.
The matron of his the £30,000-a-year boarding school had not informed Mr Bowlby’s specialist of fears that the teenager was suicidal.
Campaigners have called for Roacutane to be banned because it has been linked to depression and suicides, but it is still is prescribed on the NHS for severe acne.
The latest figures from the Medicines and Healthcare Regulation Authority show that the active ingredient of the drug, Isotretinoin, has been implicated in reports of 878 psychiatric disorders, including 44 suspected suicides, since it was registered in 1983.
Mr Bowlby first started taking Roacutane in December 2011 and had his dosage upped from 40 to 60mg a day a month later.
Days later he complained to school matron Tracey Hopson that he had been having “very dark thoughts”.
"I was worried about how dark the thoughts were,” she told Gloucester Coroner’s Court. “I think automatically taking his own life is what everyone thought.”
They decided to reduce the dose, but dermatological specialist James Milne, who had prescribed the drug, was not informed.
Dr Milne said he would have stopped the drug “immediatiely” and referred him for counselling.
On the reduced dose Mr Bowlby continued his studies and sat his GCSEs.
When he returned in September he said he had given up the drug, but just four weeks later, on October 1, he asked for Roacutane again.
Mrs Hopson said she had outlined in red to call the medical centre, “but it was a particularly busy day so I didn't get round to it”.
Jack Severn, a fellow boarder, found his body in his room at 7am on October 12, the day after he took his first tablet.
He said he had been made aware that Jack had recently argued with his parents and was disappointed about the results of a riding show, but did not have any concerns for his welfare.
He told the inquest Jack had not been bullied but had been made "the butt of jokes" by fellow pupils.
His older brother Thomas said he had been acting "entirely out of character" in the weeks before his death and had been “rude” to his parents.
He had telephoned him after hearing of concerns over his behaviour, and the conversation went well until he asked his brother about Mark Chesters, who works with show horses.
"I said 'what's this about you texting a 40-year-old gay bloke'. He got very annoyed and said 'who told you that?'.
"I had concerns because of the way he got very angry quickly. Jack was usually very polite, he was gifted and could charm anyone."
Mr Chesters told the inquest regularly exchanged text messages with Jack but never saw the teenager as anything other than a friend.
"He had an amazing personality," Mr Chesters said. "Everybody loved him."
Lady Vesty also spoke to him just days before his death and was taken aback by a sudden outburst of swearing as she had not heard him to use the language in the five years she had known him.
The inquest heard Mr Bowlby, from Wantage in Oxfordshire, had researched suicide at school including "10 famous people's suicide notes", and clicking on a webpage asking whether or not a person should leave a suicide note.
The drug has been linked to the suicides of grammar school girl Melissa Martin-Hughes, 18, 20-year-old Seamus Todd, son of late actor Richard Todd, and Angela Lee, 28 - who left a note claiming it had left her “prematurely aged” and that “there was no way out”.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, who make Roaccutane, deny that there is a causal link between the drug and either depression or suicide.
The hearing continues tomorrow.
Days later he complained to school matron Tracey Hopson that he had been having “very dark thoughts”.
"I was worried about how dark the thoughts were,” she told Gloucester Coroner’s Court. “I think automatically taking his own life is what everyone thought.”
They decided to reduce the dose, but dermatological specialist James Milne, who had prescribed the drug, was not informed.
Dr Milne said he would have stopped the drug “immediatiely” and referred him for counselling.
On the reduced dose Mr Bowlby continued his studies and sat his GCSEs.
When he returned in September he said he had given up the drug, but just four weeks later, on October 1, he asked for Roacutane again.
Mrs Hopson said she had outlined in red to call the medical centre, “but it was a particularly busy day so I didn't get round to it”.
Jack Severn, a fellow boarder, found his body in his room at 7am on October 12, the day after he took his first tablet.
He said he had been made aware that Jack had recently argued with his parents and was disappointed about the results of a riding show, but did not have any concerns for his welfare.
He told the inquest Jack had not been bullied but had been made "the butt of jokes" by fellow pupils.
His older brother Thomas said he had been acting "entirely out of character" in the weeks before his death and had been “rude” to his parents.
He had telephoned him after hearing of concerns over his behaviour, and the conversation went well until he asked his brother about Mark Chesters, who works with show horses.
"I said 'what's this about you texting a 40-year-old gay bloke'. He got very annoyed and said 'who told you that?'.
"I had concerns because of the way he got very angry quickly. Jack was usually very polite, he was gifted and could charm anyone."
Mr Chesters told the inquest regularly exchanged text messages with Jack but never saw the teenager as anything other than a friend.
"He had an amazing personality," Mr Chesters said. "Everybody loved him."
Lady Vesty also spoke to him just days before his death and was taken aback by a sudden outburst of swearing as she had not heard him to use the language in the five years she had known him.
The inquest heard Mr Bowlby, from Wantage in Oxfordshire, had researched suicide at school including "10 famous people's suicide notes", and clicking on a webpage asking whether or not a person should leave a suicide note.
The drug has been linked to the suicides of grammar school girl Melissa Martin-Hughes, 18, 20-year-old Seamus Todd, son of late actor Richard Todd, and Angela Lee, 28 - who left a note claiming it had left her “prematurely aged” and that “there was no way out”.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, who make Roaccutane, deny that there is a causal link between the drug and either depression or suicide.
The hearing continues tomorrow.
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