The assistant coroner for Berkshire says ofloxacin ‘induced a determination to end his life’ and warns that current safety warnings are inadequate
A lawyer from Reading with no history of mental ill health died by suicide shortly after starting a course of the antibiotic ofloxacin, an inquest has heard. Alex Mulroney, who was in a secure relationship with his wife and children, was prescribed the drug after a first-line antibiotic failed to clear a recurrence of a physical condition. Berkshire assistant coroner Ian Wade KC said on the balance of probabilities the medicine did not cause his death but “induced a determination to end his life”. He has sent a Prevention of Future Deaths report to health regulators and guidance bodies.
What the inquest heard
Mr Mulroney had previously had a physical condition causing urinary and genital symptoms, and it returned in December 2025. Mr Wade said he took ofloxacin on 16 December. Late the next evening he left his home in Reading, telling his wife he was in considerable discomfort from a rash and was going to hospital. That was not true. He died from his injuries in the early hours of 18 December.
Mr Wade described him as “an intelligent and successful lawyer with a wife and children he loved, in a secure relationship”. He said Mr Mulroney had no history of emotional or mental ill health and was not considered at risk of self-harm.
The coroner’s concerns
In his Prevention of Future Deaths report, Mr Wade wrote: “On the balance of probability the prescribed ofloxacin did not cause death but induced a determination to end his life.” He said the death of a patient with no previous history “soon after commencing a course of a fluoroquinolone is not the first such fatal outcome, linked to such medication”.
“Ofloxacin is a dangerous product, notwithstanding its benefits and widespread use,” he said. “The current approach to publishing warnings of possible harm provides insufficient safeguards and fails properly and adequately to inform both prescribers and patients of dangers.”
He has sent the report to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the British National Formulary. The source does not include any response from them or from the drug’s manufacturers.
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