Coroner's Finding: BAKER Neville Ronald

56y · Male·respiratory failure due to adenocarcinoma of the lung and chronic obstructive lung disease

Neville Ronald Baker, aged 56, died from respiratory failure due to adenocarcinoma of the lung and chronic obstructive lung disease. He was a life prisoner serving a sentence for murder. He had been a heavy smoker throughout his life and imprisonment. His lung disease was identified in 1998 when emphysema changes were detected on chest X-ray. He received appropriate pharmacological management for emphysema over subsequent years. In December 2009, he was admitted with acute exacerbation and pleural effusion; cell analysis revealed primary lung cancer. Specialists determined he was unsuitable for chemotherapy; palliative care was agreed upon by all parties. He was readmitted in January 2010 for palliative care and died approximately 6 weeks later. The coroner found his hospital and prison management appropriate with no recommendations for improvement.