Surrey's coroner is calling for change to supplement packaging rules after an 89-year-old's fatal vitamin D overdose.<br />Following the death of David Mitchener,<br /> the coroner has written to the Department of Health and Social Care and the Food Standards Agency (FSA).<br />A report said the 89-year-old had been taking vitamin supplements for at least the nine months preceding his death.<br />Before his death, a test showed his vitamin D levels at 380, the maximum level recordable by the laboratory.<br />An inquest into Mr Mitchener's death at East Surrey Hospital in May 2023 ended in December.<br /><br />It found Mr Mitchener died of vitamin D toxicity, hypercalcaemia, and cardiac and kidney failure.<br /><br />The conclusion of the inquest was death by misadventure.<br />'Very serious risks'<br />Jonathan Stevens, assistant coroner in Surrey, raised concerns that vitamin supplements can have "potentially very serious<br /> risks and side effects when taken in excess" <br />and that current labelling requirements do not require them to be written on packaging.<br />He also said the absence of appropriate warnings and guidance about dosage was a concern.<br />The FSA and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) both said they would respond to the coroner on the report, <br />which was also sent to the company which sold the supplements.<br />An FSA spokesperson said policy responsibility for food supplements in England was not directly within the remit of the FSA.<br />A DHSC spokesperson said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of David Mitchener.<br /><br />"We will consider the coroner's findings in full and respond in due course."<br />NHS guidance states that taking too many vitamin D supplements over a long period of time can cause <br />hypercalcaemia, where too much calcium builds up in the body.<br />It said this can damage the kidneys and the heart, and recommends 10 micrograms per day for most people.
