Inquest into the Death of Bill PORTELLI
Deceased
Bill PORTELLI
Demographics
64y, male
Date of death
2012-03-22
Finding date
2014-04-11
Cause of death
bronchopneumonia in a man receiving palliative care for terminal cancer of the rectum
AI-generated summary
Bill Portelli, a 64-year-old man with chronic paranoid schizophrenia and terminal rectum cancer with liver metastases, died of bronchopneumonia (from aspirated vomit) while receiving palliative care at Alma Street Centre. He was an involuntary Mental Health Act patient. The coroner found supervision, treatment and care were exemplary. The deceased refused cancer diagnosis, believing his symptoms were caused by his psychiatric treatment and the devil. He deteriorated rapidly from bowel obstruction on 20 March 2012 and died two days later. The coroner noted no preventable errors; appropriate palliative management occurred throughout. The case demonstrates the challenge of treating patients with severe mental illness and comorbid terminal cancer who lack insight and lack compliance.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- terminal rectum cancer with hepatic, splenic and pulmonary metastases
- bowel obstruction
- aspiration of vomit
- chronic paranoid schizophrenia with poor insight
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- rapid deterioration in final days
Full text
Related cases
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 —