A chance lunchtime conversation changed Dr Caroline Copeland’s career. Newly arrived at St George’s as a pharmacologist, she discovered an old file. Two decades of coroners’ reports were sitting in paper files. Caroline saw what could be learned from them and changed direction to help keep the programme alive. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today Caroline is Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology and Toxicology at King’s College London and Director of the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality. We talk about the people behind the statistics, the role of coroners and toxicology, deprivation and stigma, and why the details recorded after a death matter for preventing the next one. The conversation takes us from naloxone delivered by drone to the changing illicit drug supply and the difficulty of detecting Nitazenes after death.
Our micro discussion continues the theme and explores Caroline’s research suggesting that opioid-related deaths in England and Wales have been substantially underestimated. Why does this matter and what can we do about it? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395925002725?via%3Dihub
As ever, Caroline shares a memory-evoking medicine, a career anthem and a book. As ever, it is the stories behind the choices that we love. In the Final Ingredient, Gimmo tells the story of Bixonimania: a fictional illness that found its way into confident AI answers. A reminder to check the source, however convincing the wording.
Mentioned in this episode
• Caroline Copeland at King’s College London (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/caroline-copeland)
• National Programme on Substance Use Mortality (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/the-national-programme-on-substance-use-mortality)
• Research on naloxone delivery by drone (https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/an-evaluation-of-naloxone-transit-for-opioid-overdose-using-drone/)
• Nature: Scientists invented a fake disease. AI told people it was real (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01100-y)
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002grqm Can we reverse rising drug deaths? BBC Inside Health (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b019dl1b)
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0021qsl The Drug Death Detectives BBC Radio 4 Follow The Aural Apothecary on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/auralapothecary/) and find more episodes at theauralapothecary.com (https://www.theauralapothecary.com/) . We are on Instagram @auralapothecary.
From Prescription to Ocean — A TEDx Talk by Jamie HayesWe’re incredibly proud to share that Aural Apothecary co-host Jamie Hayes has taken to the TEDx stage with a thought-provoking talk: Prescription to Ocean: The Hidden Impact of Medicines https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swCLNaAG5qY
Jamie explores a fascinating and urgent question: What happens to our medicines once they leave the prescription pad — and how do they impact the world beyond the patient? It’s a journey that connects healthcare, the environment, and our shared responsibility for the future. You’ll never think about prescribing (or taking) medicines in quite the same way again. Please take a few minutes to watch, reflect, and share — this is a conversation worth having.
