Coroner's Finding: MITTIGA Saverio
Deceased
Saverio Mittiga
Demographics
89y, male
Date of death
2016-06-06
Finding date
2021-01-15
Cause of death
multi-organ failure on a background of advanced dementia and small cell lung cancer
AI-generated summary
An 89-year-old prisoner with advanced dementia and small cell lung cancer died from multi-organ failure whilst in lawful custody at Yatala Labour Prison. He entered prison aged 83 with complex medical needs including ischaemic heart disease, COPD, and diabetes. Over his six-year incarceration, he received regular medical care from prison medical officers and was treated at hospital on multiple occasions. By 2015, his health was deteriorating significantly; he was certified unfit for work and showed cognitive decline (15/30 on mental state examination). Following recommendations from medical staff and case reviews, he was transferred to Yatala Labour Prison in December 2015 and subsequently to the newly opened High Dependency Unit in March 2016. He was commenced on end-of-life care including morphine and clonazepam. He died peacefully whilst receiving appropriate end-of-life care. The coroner found no suspicious circumstances, no concerns regarding his care, and found that appropriate care was provided throughout his incarceration.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- advanced dementia
- small cell lung cancer
- ischaemic heart disease
- chronic obstructive airways disease
- type 2 diabetes
- age 89 years with progressive frailty
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.