Inquest into the death of Neville Betteridge
Deceased
Neville Gilbert Betteridge
Demographics
72y, male
Date of death
2017-02-27
Finding date
2018-07-18
Cause of death
Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm
AI-generated summary
A 72-year-old man died from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm while in custodial care. He was admitted to Prince of Wales Hospital following a fall in prison with symptoms of light-headedness and tunnel vision. Clinical assessment identified urinary tract infection, chest infection, and cardiac concerns. He deteriorated rapidly, was transferred to ICU, and despite intubation and resuscitation, died. The coroner found his care and treatment whilst in custody was appropriate, with timely transfer to hospital when required. The death was of natural causes, and no clinical negligence or failures in care were identified. Clinicians appropriately declined invasive cardiac intervention as unsuitable. The case highlights the challenge of detecting AAA in elderly patients with multiple comorbidities.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Clinical conditions
Procedures
Contributing factors
- Advanced age
- Vascular disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- History of smoking
- Cardiac conduction abnormalities
- Underlying infection (urinary tract and chest)
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —