Coroner's Finding: WHETTERS Peter Richard Bertram
Deceased
Peter Richard Bertram Whetters
Demographics
75y, male
Date of death
2012-06-17
Finding date
2015-09-22
Cause of death
Multiorgan failure complicating mixed drug toxicity
AI-generated summary
A 75-year-old man with end-stage cardiac failure and chronic renal failure died from multiorgan failure complicating mixed drug toxicity following intentional overdose of alcohol, temazepam, and oxycodone. He had expressed suicidal ideation to family members on the day of overdose and subsequently to hospital staff. He was appropriately placed under a Mental Health Act detention order. Toxicological analysis revealed therapeutic lithium levels, but the coroner found no evidence this contributed to death or that it was administered by another person. The deceased received appropriate psychiatric and medical assessment and treatment. His detention was lawful and played no role in his death. No clinical management failures were identified, and no recommendations were made.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Procedures
Contributing factors
- intentional overdose of alcohol, temazepam, and oxycodone
- end-stage cardiac failure with ejection fraction 10%
- chronic renal failure
- ischaemic heart disease with previous bypass surgery
- acute pulmonary oedema
- bibasal pneumonia
- severe cardiac ischaemia
- suicidal ideation
- personality change following cardiac surgery
- complex psychosocial stressors
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