Fullerton, Robert Martin

59y · Male·Disseminated carcinoma on a background of emphysema

Robert Fullerton, a 59-year-old Aboriginal man from Palm Island, died from disseminated carcinoma while remanded in custody at Townsville Correctional Centre. He presented with abdominal pain on 5 December 2018, was diagnosed with a large pelvic mass and subsequently with poorly differentiated carcinoma on 13 December 2018. The coroner found his medical management appropriate and timely, with no missed diagnostic opportunities or preventable factors. Pain management was continuously reviewed by nursing and medical staff. He received adequate palliative care at Townsville Hospital from 13 January until his death on 19 January 2019. The coroner concluded the death was from natural causes with no suspicious circumstances and could not have been prevented.