Deceased
Beverley Broadbent
Demographics
83y, female
Date of death
2013-02-11
Finding date
2015-09-03
Cause of death
Pentobarbitone toxicity
AI-generated summary
Beverley Broadbent, 83, died from pentobarbitone toxicity after deliberately taking a lethal dose to end her life. Her GP, Dr C., who had known of her long-standing intention to die and had even discussed what he might certify on her death certificate, issued a certificate stating acute myocardial infarction as the cause. This prevented timely coronial investigation. The coroner found Dr C. failed to report a reportable death despite knowing it was probably suicide. Key lessons: GPs must understand and fulfil mandatory reporting obligations for unnatural deaths; discussions about end-of-life wishes do not override legal duties; and access to lethal means (pentobarbitone obtained online) requires attention in suicide prevention.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
87y · Female·Complications of head injuries and left proximal femur fracture sustained in a f…
An 87-year-old woman with Parkinson's disease sustained an unwitnessed fall at a residential aged care facility, resulting in head injuries and a hip fracture. Critical clinical lessons emerged: (1) neurological observat…
Male, female, male, female·Nicholas Brown: combined drug (methadone and benzodiazepine) intoxication; Toni …
Joint inquest into four deaths of individuals prescribed opioid replacement therapy by Dr J. between September 2016 and August 2017: Nicholas Shane Brown (35), Toni Lee Wiki (38), Matthew Wayne Winwood (47), and Belinda …
0y · Male·Perinatal hypoxia
Baby R, born at 39 weeks 6 days via planned homebirth with private midwives, died from perinatal hypoxia on day 6 of life. The mother had significant obstetric risk factors: previous emergency caesarean section, macrosom…
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. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. 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 —