Deceased
Heidi Maree Clarke-Lewis
Demographics
female
Date of death
2009-04-30
Finding date
2011-04-01
Cause of death
massive intra-abdominal haemorrhage caused by injuries to her right common iliac artery and vein during laparoscopic salpingectomy for ectopic pregnancy
AI-generated summary
Heidi Maree Clarke, a patient undergoing treatment for ectopic pregnancy, died on 30 April 2009 from massive intra-abdominal haemorrhage caused by injuries to her right common iliac artery and vein sustained during laparoscopic salpingectomy at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital. The surgical procedure resulted in vascular injury leading to fatal bleeding. The inquest examined the circumstances surrounding the procedure and heard evidence from multiple clinicians and hospital representatives. The coroner made three key recommendations: undertaking a feasibility study on electronic recording of surgical procedures in NSW Health facilities, adoption of family communication checklists in operating rooms as proposed by Ms Tracy Collins, and review of current on-call procedures for clinicians within the health network. These recommendations indicate systemic improvements in surgical safety, procedural documentation, and family communication could prevent similar deaths in future.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Clinical conditions
Procedures
36y · Male·Drowning
Gary Dale Sargeant, a 36-year-old Royal Australian Air Force member, died by drowning after absconding from Edinburgh Health Centre during an acute mental health crisis. Critical clinical failures included: a clinical ps…
86y · Female·Metastatic ovarian cancer (high-grade serous carcinoma)
An 86-year-old woman serving a life sentence died of metastatic ovarian cancer in palliative care. After diagnosis in April 2023, treatment was appropriately limited to symptom management given her advanced dementia, mak…
75y · Female·multiple organ failure due to severe anaemia secondary to blood loss post electi…
A 75-year-old woman died from multiple organ failure due to severe anaemia after elective hysterectomy surgery. Critical failures occurred: the surgical and anaesthetic teams held conflicting understandings about whether…
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 —