Coroner's Finding: MOXON John William
Deceased
John William Moxon
Demographics
69y, male
Date of death
2011-03-05
Finding date
2013-08-19
Cause of death
Advanced motor neurone disease leading to terminal respiratory failure
AI-generated summary
A 69-year-old man died in custody from advanced motor neurone disease with terminal respiratory failure. He experienced progressive arm and leg weakness from March 2009, initially attributed to angina. Neurological referral occurred in August 2010, with motor neurone disease diagnosed provisionally on 11 August 2010 and confirmed in December 2010. Rilutek was prescribed only 5 days before death. The coroner examined whether earlier diagnosis or treatment could have extended survival beyond his expected release date. Expert neurological opinion concluded that earlier diagnosis would not have altered disease progression, and Rilutek provides only modest survival benefit (3-6 months). The coroner found management appropriate and adequate within the custodial system, noting that motor neurone disease has no effective disease-modifying treatments regardless of setting.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Progressive motor neurone disease
- Terminal respiratory failure
Coroner's recommendations
- Promulgation of policies promoting appropriate care for an ageing prison population
- Construction of a South Australian Prison Health Service health centre and high dependency unit
Full text
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