Inquest into the death of Bruce Burrell

63y · Male·metastatic small cell lung carcinoma with ischaemic heart disease as a significant contributing condition

A 63-year-old man serving a custodial sentence died of metastatic small cell lung carcinoma with contributing ischaemic heart disease. One month before death, he presented with constitutional symptoms and was diagnosed with stage IV disease. He received palliative chemotherapy, which caused expected complications including neutropaenia requiring antibiotics. As his condition deteriorated, treatment was escalated appropriately to comfort care with DNR orders in place. The coroner found that healthcare provided whilst in custody met expected standards, with no actions or omissions contributing to death. Given the advanced terminal nature of the disease at diagnosis, death was not preventable.