Coronial
VIChome

Finding into death of John Charles Prohasky

Deceased

John Charles Prohasky

Demographics

66y, male

Coroner

Coroner Audrey Jamieson

Date of death

2013-06-20

Finding date

2016-06-23

Cause of death

unascertained

AI-generated summary

A 66-year-old man with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and severe hypoglycaemia unawareness died on 20 June 2013, the day after commencing a Medtronic Paradigm insulin pump. He was found collapsed at home after planning to change his insulin pump vial. Cause of death was unascertained. Clinical lessons include: a dietician formal assessment should have been undertaken during pump initiation, not deferred to family members, given his inaccurate carbohydrate counting; pump data from 17-20 June 2013 was corrupted preventing analysis of potential overdose; his history of severe hypoglycaemia with poor symptom recognition may have contributed; multiple Medtronic safety advisories before his death included risks of unintended insulin bolus delivery. The commencement of quick-acting insulin infusion via pump was a significant change from his prior slow-acting regimen.

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

Specialties

endocrinology

Error types

systemcommunication

Drugs involved

insulin - rapid-actinginsulin - slow-actingcitalopram

Clinical conditions

insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type 1)severe hypoglycaemiahypoglycaemia unawarenessatrial fibrillationsleep apnoeadepressionmild cognitive impairmentosteoporosis

Procedures

insulin pump insertion and commencementcarbohydrate counting assessment

Contributing factors

  • possible hypoglycaemia from insulin pump malfunction or operator error
  • history of severe hypoglycaemia with poor symptom awareness
  • transition to new insulin pump technology with quick-acting insulin
  • mild cognitive impairment
  • inaccurate carbohydrate counting skill
  • possible drive support cap failure of Paradigm pump allowing unintended insulin bolus
  • loss of historical pump data preventing investigation of events 17-20 June 2013

Coroner's recommendations

  1. Warringal Private Hospital should implement more thorough screening, possibly through dietician assessment, for all patients admitted for insulin pump commencement, to ensure adequate carbohydrate counting and insulin calculating ability
  2. Medtronic Australia Pty Ltd should install additional data retention technology to Paradigm insulin pump or implement a policy to salvage historical pump data as a matter of priority when devices are under review, to prevent data corruption
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.