AN 84-year-old Brynmawr woman died of natural causes despite being mistakenly given an overdose of medication by a nurse at her care home, an inquest heard yesterday.

Gwent Coroners Court sitting at Newport heard Megan Brown was mistakenly administered three and a half times the prescribed amount of the sedative chloral hydrate, days before she died on Saturday March 17, 2012.

But a post-mortem examination found no evidence the overdose had contributed to Mrs Brown’s death.

The inquest heard Mrs Brown’s dosage had been changed a few days before and a nurse had accidentally administered the older, stronger medication at the new, weaker medicine’s measurements.

Mrs Brown had been a resident of Glanbury Care Home, on Intermediate Road, Brynmawr, for six years, and had been suffering from dementia since 2007.

Her daughter, Linda Elizabeth Tucker, told the inquest her mother’s illness got worse over the years and eventually she moved to Brynwood nursing home before being moved to the Glanbury unit.

The inquest heard she suffered from various health problems including a chest infection, stomach ulcers and a fall which saw her break a hip, which required her to take a variety of medicines.

Her son, Kevin Brown, said in a statement: “It has never been my wish to hold anyone responsible (for her death) and I truly feel my mother would feel the same.”

The court also heard from pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbeater who conducted Mrs Brown’s post-mortem.

He found Mrs Brown had an enlarged heart caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema) and that due to the lack of pneumonia or evidence of infection in the lungs , there was nothing to suggest the chloralhydrate had caused her death.

Instead he said she died of natural causes including congestive cardiac failure brought on by the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Gwent Coroner David Bowen recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.