Coroner's Finding: Morrison, Gerald Douglas

61y · Male·ischaemic heart disease with left ventricular hypertrophy

A 61-year-old Aboriginal man died in prison custody from ischaemic heart disease with left ventricular hypertrophy. He had significant cardiac risk factors including type 2 diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia, age, male sex, and family history of early cardiac death. In February 2020, he presented with chest pain; troponin was negative and a consulting physician attributed it to musculoskeletal or gastrointestinal causes, noting diagnostic difficulty due to pre-existing left bundle branch block on ECG. The physician recommended risk factor modification including statin therapy, but the prisoner later refused cholesterol medication. Serial ECGs remained unchanged. He died suddenly in the prison shower in March 2022 with no reported preceding chest pain. The coroner found medical management appropriate and made no recommendations, concluding the death was from natural causes.