Deceased
Damien PURNELL
Demographics
47y, male
Date of death
2018-08-20
Finding date
2020-11-04
Cause of death
organ failure following cardiorespiratory impairment in a man with arteriosclerotic heart disease and recent use of drugs (synthetic cannabinoids)
AI-generated summary
Damien Matthew Purnell, a 47-year-old prisoner with a long history of polysubstance abuse and undiagnosed coronary artery disease, collapsed in his cell after smoking synthetic cannabinoids (Kronic). Despite immediate resuscitation by prison staff and ambulance paramedics, he suffered irreversible hypoxic brain injury and died three days later. Synthetic cannabinoids triggered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia in a man with 65% stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery. While prison medical care was high-standard, the case highlights the inherent dangers of synthetic cannabinoids—particularly in patients with undiagnosed cardiac disease—and the challenges of preventing illicit drug access in custodial settings. The preventability hinged on preventing the drug entering the prison, not on clinical management post-collapse, which was exemplary.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
45y · Male·focal coronary artery disease and cardiomegaly
Stratos Ioannidis, age 45, died at Maroondah Hospital on 28 March 2025 from focal coronary artery disease and cardiomegaly during an involuntary psychiatric admission. He presented with acute psychosis from bipolar disor…
41y · Male·ligature compression of the neck (hanging)
Owen Weazel, a 41-year-old Wakka Wakka man with chronic mental health issues, substance use disorder and previous suicide attempts, was found hanging in his cell at Albany Regional Prison on 10 August 2023. He had been r…
55y · Male·Complications of alcohol use disorder
Dushyanthan Visvanathan, a 55-year-old man with alcohol use disorder and prior withdrawal seizure, died in custody at MRRC from complications of alcohol use disorder. Critical failures in clinical care included: inadequa…
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