Carole Ann Dunstan, a 70-year-old woman with end-stage dementia, died of natural causes at Repatriation General Hospital on 17 June 2017 while subject to a Level 3 Inpatient Treatment Order. She had been admitted following a suicide attempt with a knife at home in February 2017. Initially placed in aged care respite, she required hospital-level psychiatric care due to severe agitation, violence, and behavioural disturbances related to Alzheimer's dementia. At RGH, she received antipsychotics, sedatives, and electroconvulsive therapy (15 sessions) without clear benefit. Her high benzodiazepine tolerance from previous alcohol abuse complicated medication optimisation. She was eventually transferred to the geriatric ward for palliative care and died peacefully, with her death expected. The coroner found her detention lawful, care appropriate, and no clinical concerns across all treating facilities.
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