Coroner's Finding: AUSTIN Dallas Dixon
Deceased
Dallas Dixon Austin
Demographics
46y, male
Date of death
2009-12-04
Finding date
2013-03-27
Cause of death
metastatic malignant melanoma
AI-generated summary
A 46-year-old man with metastatic malignant melanoma died in custody at a hospice. He was extradited from New South Wales to South Australia in April 2009 while undergoing cancer treatment. There was an 8-week delay before specialist oncology review in South Australia, caused partly by a 25-day delay in medical records transmission from Westmead Hospital. Expert review confirmed this delay did not affect the outcome—the metastatic disease would have developed regardless. Subsequent treatment by prison health, Royal Adelaide Hospital, and hospice was appropriate. The case highlights the importance of timely medical records transfer between states, particularly for patients with serious ongoing conditions.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- delay in transmission of medical records from Westmead Hospital to South Australia (25 days)
- 8-week delay in specialist oncology review following extradition
- extradition process without concurrent transfer of medical documentation
Coroner's recommendations
- The Minister for Health and Ageing contact the New South Wales counterpart to raise concern at the failure by Westmead Hospital to provide medical records in a more timely fashion
- Ensure that in future medical records are transferred from Westmead Hospital more promptly
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