Finding into death of Lance Robert Nikkelson
Deceased
Lance Robert Nikkelson
Demographics
47y, male
Date of death
2019-06-16
Finding date
2020-06-09
Cause of death
Complications of cirrhosis and metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma
AI-generated summary
Lance Robert Nikkelson, a 47-year-old Aboriginal man in prison custody, died from complications of cirrhosis and metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma. He presented with abdominal pain in May 2019, initially assessed as constipation, but was subsequently transferred to hospital where end-stage liver disease and widespread metastases were diagnosed. His condition rapidly deteriorated and he was palliated. The coroner found that care provided by the Department of Justice and St Vincent's Hospital was reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances. Medical non-compliance with assessments and treatment prevented earlier diagnosis of his liver disease. No adverse findings were made against clinicians, and the death was attributed to natural causes with no preventable factors identified.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Procedures
Contributing factors
- hepatitis C infection (untreated)
- liver cirrhosis
- non-compliance with medical assessments and treatment
- delayed diagnosis due to initial misattribution of symptoms to constipation
- portal vein thrombosis
- lung metastases
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