Sergio and Olympia
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Sergio died while hospitalised for pneumonia about 10 years ago, in his late 40s. His sister, Olympia, told the Royal Commission she believes his death was preventable.
Five weeks after Sergio was born, he developed gastrointestinal problems and was admitted to hospital, where his treatment resulted in permanent brain damage.
Sergio would sometimes gulp while eating or drinking and was prone to aspiration pneumonia. He was admitted to hospital for treatment for this condition on a few occasions.
Olympia said that during these hospitalisations she had some ‘very difficult discussions’ with a particular doctor.
One time this doctor rang Olympia late at night and told her that ‘Sergio did not want any further medical treatment’. The doctor came to this conclusion because Sergio was ‘tugging at the intravenous line, trying to pull it out’. Olympia explained that Sergio was ‘like a very young, scared child that needed some calm reassurance’.
Olympia recalled another distressing conversation with this same doctor.
‘[The doctor said] people with an intellectual disability such as my brother should not be admitted to an intensive care unit, if their condition were to worsen, as that type of person “could not achieve much in life anyway”.’
The last time he was hospitalised for aspiration pneumonia the medication was not effective, and Sergio passed away. As he had been a resident in state care, his death was automatically the subject of a coronial investigation.
Those results took four years to be released.
‘I was dismayed to read in the Coroner’s Report that my brother died after doctors placed a “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) order on his medical file, even though instructions from the family were that all efforts should be adopted to keep my brother alive,’ said Olympia.
The Coroner’s report revealed the decision to authorise the DNR order was made jointly by the medical registrar, the medical consultant, the ICU registrar and ICU consultant, but no names were provided.
The Coroner indicated that, having prepared the report, they were not going to get involved any further.
‘From my perspective,’ Olympia said, ‘the death of my brother may have been preventable if appropriate medical attention had continued.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.