Martyn, John Francis Alex
Deceased
John Francis Alex Martyn
Demographics
75y, male
Date of death
2017-04-25
Finding date
2020-12-11
Cause of death
Metastatic prostatic carcinoma
AI-generated summary
A 75-year-old Indigenous man died from metastatic prostate cancer while in prison custody. Diagnosed with cancer in 2012, he also had haemophilia A, ischaemic heart disease, and prior cerebrovascular accidents. By 2016, he required full-time palliative care. Despite attempts to arrange community-based aged care through parole, he declined participation in assessment processes and expressed preference for independent housing. He was transferred to the prison's Acute Care Unit which provided constant monitoring, regular nursing observations, and supplementary supportive measures. His Advance Health Directive indicated he did not want treatment obstructing natural death. He died peacefully while under observation, with appropriate palliative care provided throughout. The coroner found no deficiency in medical care and noted his death could not reasonably have been prevented.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- terminal prostate cancer with widespread metastases
- haemophilia A limiting treatment options
- multiple prior cerebrovascular accidents with left hemiparesis
- patient's refusal of treatment and assessment
- lack of suitable community-based palliative care placement
- patient's reluctance to engage with parole assessment processes
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