Coronial
SAhospital

Coroner's Finding: BUTSON Graham Joseph

Deceased

Graham Joseph Butson

Demographics

81y, male

Date of death

2015-03-22

Finding date

2018-03-29

Cause of death

aspiration of gastric contents complicating disseminated moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of the right lung with metastases to brain

AI-generated summary

Graham Joseph Butson, aged 81, died from aspiration of gastric contents complicating undiagnosed metastatic lung cancer with brain metastases. He presented with confusion, agitation and atrial fibrillation; a lung mass was suspected but CT imaging could not be completed due to his acute delirium. He was detained under mental health legislation for safety reasons. The coroner found his death was not preventable despite extensive undiagnosed malignancy. A significant procedural concern was identified: the mandatory psychiatric review of his detention order within 24 hours was not conducted, apparently due to weekend rostering. The coroner criticised this as non-compliance with mental health legislation, noting that 'not practicable' should not be conflated with 'not convenient'. However, the review failure had no clinical impact as confirmation would have been inevitable and discharge unlikely.

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

Specialties

orthopaedic surgerygeneral medicineintensive carepsychiatrycardiologyradiology

Error types

system

Drugs involved

warfarinamiodaronerisperidoneantibiotics

Clinical conditions

adenocarcinoma of right lung with brain metastasesatrial fibrillationaspirationdeliriumcongestive cardiac failuretype 2 diabetes mellitusacute gout

Procedures

CT scan of headX-ray of right kneeCT of right kneeCT scan of chest and abdomen (incomplete)intubationCPRECG

Contributing factors

  • undiagnosed metastatic lung cancer with extensive brain metastases
  • altered conscious state and delirium from brain metastases
  • acute delirium and agitation preventing completion of diagnostic CT imaging
  • atrial fibrillation with tachycardia
  • advanced age (81 years) with multiple comorbidities
Full text

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.