Deceased
Sommer Bethany Warren
Demographics
18y, female
Coroner
Coroner Audrey Jamieson
Date of death
2014-10-06
Finding date
2020-03-18
Cause of death
Generalised tonic-clonic seizure and cardiac arrest arising from severe hypertensive encephalopathy in labour
AI-generated summary
An 18-year-old pregnant woman presented in labour at 41 weeks and 2 days gestation. From 23 September onwards, she experienced intermittent headaches, epigastric pain, proteinuria and peripheral oedema. At 1755 hours on 6 October, her blood pressure was recorded as 200/120 mmHg but was not treated with antihypertensive medication or magnesium sulphate. Instead, the treating anaesthetist administered additional epidural analgesia, expecting this to lower blood pressure. At 1810 hours she became drowsy with eyelid flickering. At 1817 hours she suffered a generalised seizure caused by hypertensive encephalopathy. She arrested at 1823 hours; resuscitation commenced at 1826 hours (3-minute delay). She died at 1901 hours despite resuscitation. The coroner found that treatment with intravenous labetalol and magnesium sulphate at 1755 hours would have prevented the seizure and death. The failure to provide this treatment fell below the accepted standard of care.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Procedures
0y · Male·complications of extreme prematurity in the setting of precipitant premature bre…
Jordan was born at 25 weeks 4 days gestation in an emergency department following precipitant breech labour with a circumvallate placenta. He received appropriate initial resuscitation but was administered 10 times the p…
29y · Female·Mixed Drug Toxicity
A 29-year-old woman died from mixed drug toxicity after being found unresponsive at a residential parenting program. She had complex medical conditions including coproporphyria, epilepsy, and opioid use disorder. Critica…
42y · Female·Global cerebral ischaemia in a setting of anaesthesia
A 42-year-old woman died from global cerebral ischaemia following cardiac arrest during anaesthesia for a late-term termination of pregnancy. The anaesthetist, Dr McAllister, failed to obtain or ensure a functioning puls…
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.