A Manus Island asylum seeker who died in 2014 may have survived with better and earlier treatment, a pre-inquest hearing has heard.

The hearing heard evidence from two medical experts identifying several failures in how Hamid Khazaei was treated after reporting to the detention centre's clinic with an infection from a cut on his leg.

Manus Island detainee Hamid Khazaei, who died in 2014.

Dr Mark Little's report, summarised by counsel assisting Emily Cooper, declared the decision to fly the Iranian man to a closer but less capable Papua New Guinean hospital rather than an Australian intensive care unit a "failure".

Ms Cooper also read Dr Drew Wenck's report, saying the 24-year-old's death could have been prevented with earlier intervention and proper ventilator management.