A HOSPITAL and two prisons have been criticised after failing to detect that a prisoner who died was suffering from cancer.
Sheriff Derek O'Carroll found a "series of shortcomings" at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, HMP Peterhead and HMP Glenochil following the death of rapist Giovanni Cocozza.
The 82-year-old died at Stirling Royal Infirmary in March 2011 from a brain haemorrhage he was susceptible to due to long-standing high blood pressure.
Cocozza, who at the time was serving a 10-year sentence, was found to be suffering from incurable lung cancer which had spread to his liver. It was first diagnosed less than 24 hours before his death.
Sheriff O'Carroll, who heard a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into the death at Alloa Sheriff Court, concluded that the cancer did not contribute to his death and could not have been avoided.
Despite this, the failure to detect it earlier denied Cocozza access to treatment that might have improved his quality of life. He could have been considered for compassionate release, he said.
The sheriff said: "The failure to diagnose that cancer was attributable to the combined effect of a series of shortcomings, both personal and institutional, occurring within Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, HMP Peterhead and HMP Glenochil.
"Had it not been for those shortcomings, it is likely that the existence of the cancer would have been diagnosed earlier.
"The absence of a more timely diagnosis resulted in losing two opportunities. The first was access to treatment, though any such treatment could only have been palliative and not have extended life, though it might have improved the quality. Secondly, he could have been considered for compassionate release."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article