Sun, 11 Jul 2021 19:45 UTC
The number of prescriptions for a powerful sedative that can kill the frail doubled at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, raising fears it was used to control elderly residents in stretched care homes - or even to hasten their deaths.
Official figures show out-of-hospital prescribing of the drug midazolam increased by more than 100 per cent in April compared to previous months.
An anti-euthanasia campaigner last night said he suspected that the spike was evidence that many people had been put on end-of-life protocols or pathways .
Whistleblowers also claimed to have witnessed misuse of sedatives, with staff told to give them to dementia patients to stop them wandering the corridors.