Deceased
Craig Vincent Douthie
Demographics
52y, male
Date of death
2018-02-13
Finding date
2020-07-02
Cause of death
C2, C3, C4 spinal injury sustained from a fall secondary to seizures
AI-generated summary
A 52-year-old man with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and intellectual disability living in disability accommodation fell in the bathroom after a seizure and sustained cervical spine fractures (C2-C3-C4). He was admitted to hospital with initially appropriate vital signs and neurological presentation. CT scanning was delayed by more than 15 hours due to difficulty understanding his neurological baseline, communication challenges, and technical issues with catheter insertion. The coroner found the diagnostic delay was not causal to his death and did not represent a missed opportunity for intervention. Earlier diagnosis would have been preferable and consistent with good practice, but his multiple comorbidities meant the outcome would not have changed. The disability accommodation staff provided appropriate immediate care. No systemic failures contributing to death were identified.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
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…
47y · Male·Acute myocardial infarction due to thrombotic occlusion of the right coronary ar…
Nick Panagiotopoulos, a 47-year-old man, suffered a fatal acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) on 16 October 2021 at home in Preston, Victoria. His family made five calls to Triple Zero (000) requesting emergency a…
73y · Male·Thromboembolism on a background of a spindle cell tumour
Michael Anthony Guider, aged 73, was an inmate in NSW correctional custody when he developed progressive shortness of breath and lower limb swelling. He presented to Prince of Wales Hospital on 6 September 2024 and was f…
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 —