Finding into death of Gaye Marie Darby
Deceased
Gaye Marie Darby
Demographics
58y, female
Date of death
2023-07-29
Finding date
2024-05-13
Cause of death
Aspiration pneumonia
AI-generated summary
Gaye Marie Darby, a 58-year-old woman with Down syndrome and Alzheimer's dementia, died from aspiration pneumonia following a three-week history of worsening dysphagia and anorexia. She presented to hospital with suspected aspiration, was initially treated with antibiotics and fluids with improvement, but clinicians recognised her progressive dysphagia with little reversibility. After discussions with her supportive family, a palliative approach including risk feeding was chosen rather than nasogastric tube feeding or ongoing parenteral antibiotics. She deteriorated over the following week and died. The coroner found no concerns with the care provided and recognised the collaborative, family-centred approach to management of her complex condition.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Malnutrition
- Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome)
- Alzheimer's dementia
- Progressive dysphagia
Full text
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