A 67-year-old man presented to his GP with discoloured urine. Blood tests revealed acute liver toxicity but critical results were communicated via facsimile, with unclear timing of GP's review. The patient deteriorated rapidly and presented two days later in severe hepatic failure. Despite aggressive supportive care at hospital, he died of fulminant liver failure. The coroner found the underlying cause of liver failure remained unexplained despite post-mortem investigation. While facsimile communication of results posed risks, the coroner concluded the liver failure was so severe and rapidly progressive that earlier recognition would likely not have prevented death. The case highlights dangers of outdated communication systems in medicine.
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Specialties
general practiceemergency medicinehepatologypalliative carepathologyforensic medicine
Delayed recognition of abnormal blood results communicated via facsimile
Unclear timing of GP's review of critical pathology results
Two-day delay between initial presentation and emergency re-presentation
Coroner's recommendations
Timboon Medical Clinic Practice Manager should discontinue use of facsimile for receipt of pathology results and institute a digital critical test result management system incorporating closed loop communication to ensure receipt and understanding of communicated material
Safer Care Victoria and the Department of Health should consider whether all health services should review channels of communication to address potential issues and harms from continued use of facsimile in medical settings
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