133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T +64 4 496 2000
W www.medsafe.govt.nz
24 May 2022
Chuck Schooner
By email: [FYI request #19290 email]
Ref: H202206061
Tēnā koe Chuck
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health (the Ministry) on 9 May 2022 relating to reporting required following the death of a person
from an approved medication. You specifically requested:
“Please provide from start to finish the process documents, investigations required, reporting
required following the death of a person from an approved medication.
What is the process undertaken - can you also provide reporting completed for when this has
occurred in the past a specific example and what investigations were completed”.
Your request is refused under section 18(g)(i) of the Act, as the information requested is not held
by the Ministry and there are no grounds for believing it is held by another agency subject to the
Act.
The Ministry does not investigate deaths caused by an approved medicine. The coroner
investigates when someone dies unexpectedly, violently or in suspicious circumstances or if the
general practitioner or doctor is unsure what caused a person’s death. If there is a death that the
coroner considers having been caused by a medicine, they provide the Ministry with a summary
of their investigations. Some of these with findings of public interest are published on the coronial
services website. For further information about the coronial process please see here:
https://coronialservices.justice.govt.nz/coronial-services/.
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any decisions
made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry of Health website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases.
Nāku noa, nā
Chris James
Group Manager
Medsafe
