Finding into death of Daniel Bryan Harvey

48y · Male·unascertained

Daniel Harvey, a 48-year-old man with morbid obesity, cirrhosis, diabetes, and polysubstance use including methadone and methamphetamine, was found unresponsive in immigration detention on 10 August 2020. He had complained of exercise-induced chest pain in July 2019 and was referred for stress echocardiography as Priority 1, but the referral was downgraded to routine and never completed due to his refusal and COVID delays. Post-mortem examination revealed no definitive cause of death; toxicology showed multiple substances with respiratory depressant properties. The coroner found no evidence of inadequate care, poor headcount procedure, or preventable factors. Multiple drugs capable of causing respiratory depression were present in his system, but the exact mechanism remains unascertained.