Deceased
Dorothy Josephine Blythe
Demographics
81y, female
Date of death
2009-05-10
Finding date
2011-09-23
Cause of death
ischaemic bowel
AI-generated summary
An 81-year-old woman with longstanding depression and multiple comorbidities fell and fractured her humerus in March 2009. During rehabilitation, she became increasingly depressed and self-neglectful, refusing food and cooperation with therapy. She was admitted to psychiatric care under Mental Health Act detention. On 9 May 2009, her physical health acutely declined with shock-like symptoms. Emergency laparotomy revealed extensive bowel ischaemia deemed incompatible with life. She died the following morning. The coroner found her treatment during detention was appropriate and made no recommendations. This case highlights the challenge of recognising acute surgical emergencies in elderly patients with concurrent psychiatric illness and the importance of maintaining vigilance for physical deterioration during mental health admissions.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Clinical conditions
Procedures
36y · Female·head injury
A 36-year-old woman was killed by a young man with early-onset schizophrenia after a chance encounter. The death resulted from a complex series of missed opportunities in mental healthcare management. Key failures includ…
50; 37y · Male; male·Mark John Furlan: hypoxic brain injury due to acute neck compression due to hang…
Two men died by hanging while detained under inpatient treatment orders at Ward 2G of Royal Adelaide Hospital. Mark Furlan (50) died in 2018 after developing psychotic depression with suicidal ideation. The coroner found…
37y · Male·mixed drug toxicity with fentanyl as the principal agent
37-year-old Jason Cullen died from mixed drug toxicity with fentanyl as the principal agent. He had chronic idiopathic intracranial hypertension requiring multiple neurosurgeries and was prescribed opioids and benzodiaze…
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. Some material may have been redacted or restricted by court order or privacy requirements. 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 — report an inaccuracy here.