Coroner says Seguin’s death caused by unintentional mix of alcohol and fentanyl

Jun 20, 2018 | 1:48 PM

KAMLOOPS — A report from the B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed the cause of death for former Thompson Rivers University Vice President of Advancement Christopher Seguin was a mix of alcohol and fentanyl.

Seguin died on September 22, 2017, 11 days after he was found in medical distress in a Victoria hotel room.

The TRU vice president was in Victoria on university business.

There were bottles of alcohol found in Seguin’s hotel room, but no illicit substances or drug paraphernalia.

A report issued by the provincial coroner today states Seguin was taken from his hotel room to Royal Jubilee Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, where testing confirmed the presence of fentanyl in his system.

His condition deteriorated over the next few days and he died in hospice.

Post-mortem toxicology tests found moderate to heavy alcohol intoxication, along with fentanyl deemed within a “therapeutic range.”

However, the report notes mixing alcohol and fentanyl “can produce greater respiratory depression,” which led to a lack of oxygen to Seguin’s brain, an injury described as the immediate cause of death.

The report lists the mixed drug toxicity as unintentional.

Seguin was 39 years old.