326 results
21y · Male·Suicide by hanging
A 21-year-old Aboriginal man with schizophrenia and depression died by suicide in prison custody. Key clinical failures included: (1) inadequate mental health assessment by Dr S.—45-minute screening reviewing only one of…
Unknown·Lignocaine toxicity following dental surgery with atherosclerotic and valvular h…
George Godden died at Prince of Wales Hospital on 22 February 2007 from lignocaine toxicity following dental surgery. His post-extraction gingival bleeding was treated with gauze soaked in co-phenylcaine spray, a medicat…
63y · Male·cerebral infarction
John Arthur Burns, a 63-year-old man with frontotemporal dementia and motor neurone disease, died from cerebral infarction on 17 September 2006 while in Westminster Aged Care Facility after only 12 days of residence. Des…
15y · Male·multiple blunt force injuries as a result of being hit by a train
AB, a 15-year-old boy with depression and suicidal ideation, was prescribed Lexapro (escitalopram) by his GP despite it not being registered for use in adolescents. The coroner identified significant failures in clinical…
42y · Male·Hanging (self-inflicted) while suffering from serious mental illness
Brian Dunningham, aged 42, died by hanging at Bathurst Correctional Complex (9–10 September 2009) while in custody. He had serious mental illness (psychosis, depression) requiring antipsychotic and antidepressant medicat…
32y · Female·hypoxic brain injury as a result of a cardiac arrest due to positional asphyxia …
A 32-year-old woman with schizophrenia, well-controlled on clozapine, became pregnant. Poor communication between her general practitioners, community mental health service, and the hospital meant the hospital was unawar…
28y · Female·bronchopneumonia complicating oxycodone toxicity
Melissa Jay Tatchell, aged 28 with severe anorexia nervosa (BMI 11.8, weight 29kg), died from bronchopneumonia complicating oxycodone toxicity. A locum doctor with no prior experience with oxycodone prescribed inappropri…
46y · Male·Coronary artery atherosclerosis
Angelo Lombardo, 45-year-old with schizophrenia, was detained by police under Mental Health Act and brought to ED after acute behavioural disturbance. He received 6mg clonazepam and 20mg olanzapine IM in the ambulance ba…
2y · Female·pneumonia in a toddler with enlarged tonsils and presence of codeine in blood
Elanur Koc, a 2-year-old with a history of recurrent throat infections and enlarged tonsils, died from pneumonia. Significant codeine was detected in her blood, urine, liver, and stomach contents, with codeine also prese…
81y · Female·Severe cardiogenic shock complicating cardiac surgery
An 81-year-old woman died of severe cardiogenic shock following elective aortic valve replacement complicated by intraoperative haemodynamic instability and inadequate postoperative ICU management. The surgery involved e…
37y · Male·Mixed drug toxicity (heroin, methadone and diazepam) in a man with coronary arte…
Michael Gledhill, 37, died from mixed drug toxicity involving heroin, methadone, and diazepam, complicated by pre-existing coronary artery disease. He was enrolled in a methadone maintenance program but continued illicit…
64y · Male·Large pulmonary embolus (origin undetermined)
Paul Brauer, 64, died of pulmonary embolus at Leeton District Hospital following a complex admission involving psychiatric depression, atrial fibrillation, urinary retention, and multiple comorbidities. The coroner ident…
39y · Male·rhabdomyolysis complicating cocaine toxicity against a background of atheroscler…
A 39-year-old man with undiagnosed atherosclerotic coronary artery disease died from rhabdomyolysis complicating cocaine toxicity. He exhibited cocaine-induced excited delirium with erratic dangerous driving and bizarre …
29y · Female·Effects of multiple injuries sustained when she projected herself from the top o…
Charmaine Dragun, a 29-year-old newsreader, died by suicide at The Gap on 2 November 2007. She was diagnosed with depression and treated with escalating doses of antidepressants (Efexor, then Lexapro) by multiple health …
Male·Myocardial failure resulting from excessive pulmonary blood flow and consequenti…
One-month-old Liam Woodcock, born extremely prematurely at 27.5 weeks gestation weighing approximately 1 kilogram, died from myocardial failure secondary to excessive pulmonary blood flow in the context of severe congeni…
20y · Male·pulmonary oedema due to acute on chronic heart failure resulting from dothiepin …
A 20-year-old man died from pulmonary oedema due to acute-on-chronic heart failure resulting from dothiepin overdose. He had complex mental health and substance use issues dating back to age 16. He was prescribed dothiep…
86y · Female·Unable to be determined
An 86-year-old woman resident in aged care died with toxicology revealing a potentially fatal concentration of sertraline (1.7mg/kg, with metabolite at 2.3mg/kg; fatal range 0.61–1.6mg/kg). A clinical pharmacologist opin…
81y · Male·bronchopneumonia
An 81-year-old man with dementia, congestive cardiac failure, chronic lung disease and hip fractures died of bronchopneumonia four days after discharge from palliative care to a nursing home. While an administrative erro…
85y · Male·Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm
An 85-year-old man with known inoperable abdominal aortic aneurysm died from rupture of this aneurysm while hospitalized for acute exacerbation of COPD. A medication error occurred at admission when Dr T. inadvertently i…
39y · Female·heart failure connected to a massive pulmonary embolus as a result of deep vein …
A 39-year-old woman died from acute heart failure due to massive pulmonary embolus from deep vein thrombosis two days after laparoscopic appendicectomy. She presented to ED with abdominal pain and nausea, was diagnosed w…
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