Henry Miller

PFD Report All Responded Ref: 2018-0260
Date of Report 29 August 2018
Coroner Maria Voisin
Coroner Area Avon
Response Deadline est. 21 November 2018
All 1 response received · Deadline: 21 Nov 2018
Sent To
Response Status
Responses 1 of 1
56-Day Deadline 21 Nov 2018
All responses received
About PFD responses

Organisations named in PFD reports must respond within 56 days explaining what actions they are taking.

Source: Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Coroner's Concerns
_ travellers go to this area of Columbia and some will consider participating_in a tribal ceremony Telephone 01275 461920 Email AvonCoronersTeam@bristol gov.uk Website WWw.avon-coroner com The Coroner's Court; Old Weston Road, Flax Bourton, BS48 1UL during Many when Yage will be consumed. Many will check with the FCO about any issues or warnings about their travel plans. would therefore ask You to consider whether a warning or advice should be issued to such travellers exploring this area of Columbia so that they can receive well informed guidance before traveling and deciding whether it is safe to participate in such a ceremony
Responses
FCO
28 Sep 2018
Response received
View full response
Dear Ms Voisin Tam writing in response to your report dated 29 August 2018,following the inquest into the death of Henry Jack Miller on 23 April 2014 in Putumayo, Colombia. In your report, You note your concern that other British nationals could come to harm in similar circumstances in the future and recommend that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issue a warning to prospective travellers. The safety of British nationals abroad is a paramount concern for the FCO. Through our foreign travel advice service, which we have provided since 1990, we aim to provide objective information and advice to help British nationals make informed decisions about foreign travel and enjoy safe, healthy and trouble-free trips abroad We our travel advice under 'regular review to ensure it reflects our current assessment of risks and includes information on issues that may affect British nationals specifically. Colleagues at the British Embassy in Bogota have been following local developments in this case closely and we have been in contact with Mr Miller's family. Following rcceipt of your report; our South America team finalised a review of our travel advice for Colombia and the wider region: We concluded that it was appropriate to include information on the risks of participating in spiritual cleansing ceremonies in Our travel advice for Colombia and Bolivia. These updates were made on 31 August 2018. The extract our travel advice for Colombia, found in the 'Local laws and customs' section, is as follows: Ayahuasca, or yage, is a traditional plant used in 'spiritual cleansing' ceremonies by indigenous communities in Colombia, primarily in Putamayo and the Amazon region The yage ceremony typically involves the consumption of a brew containing dimethyltryptamine (DMT), an hallucinogenic drug: Consumption of this brew is not regulated and its interaction with existing medical conditions is not well understood People have suffered serious illnesses and in some cases death after participating in these ceremonies: Spiritual cleansing or yage retreats are usually some distance from populated areas, making it difficult to access medical attention for those who need it keep from

Our full travel advice for Colombia, including information on areas of the country where we advise against travel, is available on the GOV.UK website; httpsi/ LEgOLuk/foreign-travel-advicc/colombia We continue to promote our travel advice through our established social media channels and our TravelAware prevention campaign, which is supported by a network of over 200 travel industry partners. Our travel advice for Colombia received over 280,000 unique page views in 2017. that British nationals travelling to Colombia find this update to our travel advice useful in planning for a safe and healthy trip, and that similar tragic cases can be prevented a8 a result Head of Consular Assistance Department Consular Directorate Foreign & Commonwealth Office hope
Action Should Be Taken
In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and believe you have the power to take such action.
Report Sections
Investigation and Inquest
On 28/05/2014 commenced an investigation into the death of Henry Jack MILLER: The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest: The conclusion of the inquest was: Accident
Circumstances of the Death
Henry Miller died on 23rd April 2014 at Vereda El Aguacate, Mocoa, Putumayo, Columbia. He died as a result of intoxication after consuming a psychoactive substance a tribal ceremony: He was struggling to breathe after the ceremony and it was decided that he should be taken to hospital: On the way to the hospital he was left dead by the side of the road:
Copies Sent To
coroner.com The Coroner's Court; Old Weston Road, Flax Bourton, BS48 1UL
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Data sourced from Courts and Tribunals Judiciary under the Open Government Licence.