SAhospital

Coroner's Finding: VAN GELDER Herman

Deceased

Herman Van Gelder

Demographics

40y, male

Date of death

2008-09-05

Finding date

2011-12-07

Cause of death

large bowel obstruction complicating disseminated carcinoma of rectum

AI-generated summary

A 40-year-old male died in prison custody from large bowel obstruction complicating disseminated rectal carcinoma. He had been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma in 2004, treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, with progressive metastatic disease. In March 2008 he presented with necrotising fasciitis requiring emergency surgery and ICU care. Subsequently he developed malignant bowel obstruction managed with caecostomy tube insertion in July 2008. He was transitioned to palliative care in May 2008. His medical management was deemed appropriate by the coroner. The death was natural and not preventable, with no evidence that custody affected his illness progression. No clinical errors or systemic failures were identified.

AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.

Specialties

oncology surgery intensive care palliative care gastroenterology

Clinical conditions

adenocarcinoma of rectum disseminated malignancy lung metastases liver metastases pelvic metastases large bowel obstruction necrotising fasciitis

Procedures

colonoscopy bowel resection emergency laparotomy debridement orchidectomy skin grafting caecostomy tube insertion

Contributing factors

metastatic cancer
bowel obstruction
progressive malignancy

Full text

Official source Archived copy

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 —