On a Thursday in January, Normand Meunier arrived at the hospital in Saint-Jérôme, Que., with a respiratory virus. Weeks later, he would emerge with a severe bedsore that would eventually lead him to seek medical assistance in dying (MAID).
Meunier, 66, had been a truck driver before a spinal cord injury in 2022 left his arms and legs paralyzed.
Before being admitted to an intensive care bed for his third respiratory virus in three months this winter, Meunier was stuck on a stretcher in the emergency room for four days.
His partner, Sylvie Brosseau, says without having access to a special mattress, Meunier developed a major pressure sore on his buttocks that eventually worsened to the point where bone and muscle were exposed and visible — making his recovery and prognosis bleak.
“Every time we go to the hospital, it’s my duty to tell them that Normand is quadriplegic and needs an alternating pressure mattress … I don’t understand how this can happen, because a mattress is the most basic thing.”
Brosseau says although she advocated for her partner, she was told the special bed had to be ordered.
Normand Meunier spoke with Radio-Canada the day before his death. He said he preferred putting an end to his physical and psychological suffering by opting for medical assistance in dying. (Ivanoh Demers/CBC)
‘I don’t want to be a burden’: Meunier
Without access to a mattress that shifts pressure points to prevent the formation of bedsores, a patient’s position must be changed frequently, says Jean-Pierre Beauchemin, a retired geriatrician and professor at Université Laval’s faculty of medicine.
“When you’re lying down, always in the same position, there’s hyper-pressure between the bone and the skin,” said Beauchemin.
“A pressure sore can open in less than 24 hours, and then take a very long time to close.”
The buttocks, heels, elbows and knees are particularly vulnerable.
A rotation schedule every two hours is generally necessary for a person confined to bed, according to a Quebec Health Ministry reference sheet.
Meunier had previously suffered other bedsores, notably on his heel, but nothing as disabling as the pressure sore he developed after his hospitalisation in Saint-Jérôme.
Speaking with Radio-Canada the day before his death, Meunier said he preferred putting an end to his physical and psychological suffering by opting for a medically assisted death.
He was told the sore — a gaping hole a few centimetres in diameter — would, at best, take several months to heal, according to the experts they consulted.
According to his partner, he underwent two debridements in one month — a treatment in which dead or infected tissue is scraped from wounds to help them get better.
“I don’t want to be a burden. At any rate, the medical opinions say I won’t be a burden for long; as the old folks say, it’s better to kick the can,” said Meunier.
He died at home on March 29.
Normand Meunier had been paralyzed in his arms and legs since 2022. (Ivanoh Demers/CBC)
‘A case of disbelief,’ says advocate
“That whole story is a crying shame,” said Steven Laperrière, the director general of the Regroupement des activistes pour l’inclusion au Québec (RAPLIQ), which supports people with disabilities.
“It’s really a case of disbelief … What are we doing in order to help disabled persons or sick people to live in dignity prior to dying in dignity?”
He says the health-care institution was “negligent to say the least” and that getting a proper mattress is not like “trying to get a space shuttle into orbit.”
“It’s pretty basic … Nobody will convince me that within a few hours the proper mattress could not have been found,” said Laperrière.
“To me, that’s totally a lack of professionalism,” said Laperrière, who says Meunier “would probably still be alive today” if staff had “been really professional about it.”
Sylvie Brosseau, who had been caring for Meunier for the past two years, says her partner’s experience in the hospital was unacceptable. (Ivanoh Demers/CBC)
145 alternating pressure mattresses available, says health authority
In an email to CBC, management at the local health authority, CISSS des Laurentides, said it is taking Meunier’s case “very seriously.”
“An internal investigation is underway to shed light on the events,” read the statement.
The health authority confirmed it has 450 therapeutic mattresses, including 145 with alternating pressure, in its facilities (including hospitals and long-term care facilities) and that equipment is available if staff request it, according to Radio-Canada.
But adapted mattresses and beds are not found in ERs, says Steve Desjardins, director of nursing at the CISSS des Laurentides.
“An emergency room is not an appropriate place for this type of mattress, because beds aren’t used in an emergency room, they’re stretchers [and] there isn’t really a mattress adapted [to be put on] a stretcher,” said Desjardins.
“An emergency room is a riskier place for a fragile person. That’s why, if necessary, we’re going to work actively to give them access to a bed in an inpatient unit.”
‘Deeply troubling,’ says professor in health law
Trudo Lemmens says this case is “an illustration of problems in our health-care system.”
The Scholl Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Toronto says people who are already vulnerable are left feeling like more of a burden in the system.
“Then the system responds by saying: ‘well, you have access to medical assistance and dying,'” said Lemmens.
“Medical assistance in dying is more easily available and on a more regular basis than some of the most basic care.”
He says he is increasingly hearing stories of people who are struggling in the system and turn to MAID.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
