Dr Shammi Kabir told police he collected some of "the syringes and stuff" from the bedroom of their Neutral Bay home and drove around to dispose of it because "I don't want her implicated so I got rid of it".

An inquest at Glebe Coroner's Court on Tuesday heard Dr Beata Vandeville, 46, had experienced a serious decline in her mental health after she failed a specialist exam for the fourth and final time.

Dr Vandeville was training to become an obstetrician and gynaecologist however she was increasingly distressed at her inability to obtain her fellowship and as a result she greatly reduced her workload.

The Polish-born doctor believed she was being bullied and harassed by her superiors at work and also by the examiners at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RANZCOG).

Dr Kabir had prescribed her a number of medications for anxiety, insomnia, depression and migraines.

However, an autopsy found levels of several drugs used in anaesthesia including lignocaine, medazepam and nordazepam, as well as propofol, described by Dr Kabir as "the drug Michael Jackson was using when he passed away".

These drugs are highly restricted and monitored and stocks are usually stored in locked cupboards in hospitals and day surgeries.

A search of the Neutral Bay apartment following her death found empty bottles and vials of several of these medications as well as fentanyl, a tightly-controlled, powerful pain killer and tranquiliser.

None of the drugs had been prescribed for her.

The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Richard Gaut​, told the inquest Dr Kabir said Dr Vandeville had asked him to supply her with the drugs in the weeks leading up to her death, but he would not answer if he in fact supplied them to her.

Det Gaut said during a police interview Dr Kabir said he was against the recreational use of such drugs. "I told her, 'you need help'. We argued about it".

Under questioning from Dr Kabir's barrister Robert Sutherland SC, Det Gaut said it was possible Dr Vandeville accessed the drugs herself.

In the second half of 2012 Dr Vandeville had done a few days of unpaid work assisting in theatre at the Cosmetic Institute, a cosmetic surgery day clinic.

A registered nurse at the Institute, Alfred Lombardi, said Dr Vandeville could have easily accessed some of the drugs from the anaesthetists' trolley, although others, such as fentanyl, were kept under lock and key.

Mr Lombardi said she repeatedly asked him for an access card that only he, the owners and two other staff had, which would have given her access to the entire clinic at any time.

"It was weird.... it was like, why do you need this access," he said.

Mr Lombardi said he suspected Dr Vandeville was under the influence of drugs but assumed she had taken too much medication for her migraines. He said her speech could be erratic and her mannerisms were similar to those of someone who was drunk.

The clinic's managers decided her performance was not up to scratch and she was not invited back, he said.

The inquest also heard Dr Vandeville sent a number of text messages talking about suicide to Dr Kabir and other friends in the years leading up to her death.

The texts included, "I want to die. I don't want to live anymore, sorry" and "I'm going to end it - this is injustice".

She also wrote to Dr Kabir: "I want you to know I will look after you from the sky" and "This way is better for both of us".

But Det Gaut told the inquest that while suicide is "possible, I don't think she took her own life". He said he believed she died of an accidental overdose.

The hearing, before Magistrate Derek Lee, continues.