Home / Crime and Justice / Mushroom Murderer Gets Weight-Loss Drug
Mushroom Murderer Gets Weight-Loss Drug
8 Sep
Summary
- Convicted triple murderer Erin Patterson approved for Ozempic in prison.
- Patterson serving life sentence for poisoning relatives with mushrooms.
- Drug approved due to solitary confinement and inability to exercise.
An Australian woman, Erin Patterson, convicted of murdering three relatives with poisonous mushrooms, has been approved for Ozempic weight-loss injections while incarcerated. Patterson, 51, is serving a life sentence at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne. Local reports indicate the weight-loss drug was approved because she is in solitary confinement and cannot exercise.
The Victoria justice department confirmed that medications are provided to prisoners based on doctors' advice, citing clear medical needs like preventing serious conditions. The implementation of prescribed weight-loss medication followed recommendations from the Coroner after an obesity-related death in custody.
Patterson was found guilty last year of murdering her estranged husband's parents and her sister-in-law, and of attempting to murder her brother-in-law, who survived. The incident stemmed from a family lunch where beef Wellington was served, allegedly containing deadly death cap mushrooms.
Patterson has consistently denied deliberately poisoning her relatives, maintaining the mushrooms' inclusion was an accident. She is currently appealing her convictions, with judges expected to reserve their decision for several weeks.
The approval of the drug has drawn criticism from some politicians, who argue it is a disgrace for taxpayers to subsidize weight-loss medication for inmates. They suggest alternative approaches like prescribed gym routines and dietary reviews within prisons.
