McMaster Children’s Hospital halts tonsil and adenoid surgeries after deaths

By: The Canadian Press Posted: Last Modified:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

HAMILTON - McMaster Children's Hospital has halted tonsil and adenoid surgeries after two children died following the procedures.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2024 (846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HAMILTON – McMaster Children’s Hospital has halted tonsil and adenoid surgeries after two children died following the procedures.

A statement issued Wednesday by Hamilton Health Sciences says both children died after being discharged from hospital.

One of them died the day after their surgery and the other child died nine days after their procedure.

McMaster Children's Hospital is halting tonsil and adenoid surgeries after two children died following the procedures. A view of the McMaster Children's Hospital is seen in Hamilton in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Hamilton Health Sciences, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
McMaster Children's Hospital is halting tonsil and adenoid surgeries after two children died following the procedures. A view of the McMaster Children's Hospital is seen in Hamilton in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Hamilton Health Sciences, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

The statement expresses the health network’s “deepest condolences” to the families.

The health network says there is no apparent connection between the two deaths but they are pausing surgeries “out of an abundance of caution” while outside experts review the pediatric tonsil and adenoid surgery program.

It says only emergency pediatric tonsil and adenoid surgeries will proceed and that all adult ear, nose and throat surgeries will continue.

The hospital says it is in the process of contacting patients and their families about upcoming scheduled surgeries.

“We recognize that this is a difficult message for our patients and families. Patient safety is the most important priority at our hospital and we will only resume scheduled surgeries once the review is complete,” Hamilton Health Sciences said in its statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Premier Wab Kinew knows about political communication and uses it to his advantage.

Wab Kinew as ‘communicator in chief’

Paul G. Thomas 6 minute read Preview

Wab Kinew as ‘communicator in chief’

Paul G. Thomas 6 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Premier Wab Kinew and his party have been riding high in the polls longer than normal for a government one year or less away from its first re-election contest. One reason is his ubiquitous, dominating communications presence as NDP leader and premier.

The argument here is that Kinew has supplemented his prerogatives as premier and party leader (such as appointing cabinet ministers and approving party nominations) with the skilful use of communications to advance his policy agenda, boost his personal popularity and maintain the competitive advantage of his party over the opposition Progressive Conservatives.

Communications has always been a significant part of politics and policy making. However, in the contemporary political and media environments, communications considerations have moved from the background to the foreground of decision-making by political parties, including when they are performing in the role of government. Campaigning and governing now overlap in what has been described as a permanent election campaign.

Political parties use communications strategies for several purposes: to establish an image of the leader which makes a positive emotional connection with voters; to promote a coherent message and to keep party members on message; and to gain favourable media coverage for its policies and other actions on almost a daily basis.

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT
Progressive Conservative MLA Konrad Narth (La Vérendrye) was selected by the PC caucus to be the next leader of the party Tuesday morning. (Mike Deal / Free Press)

Manitoba PCs choose Narth as interim leader; Khan blasts former caucus colleagues

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Manitoba PCs choose Narth as interim leader; Khan blasts former caucus colleagues

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Updated: 1:59 PM CDT

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives have chosen Konrad Narth as their interim party leader after the sudden resignation of Obby Khan.

Narth, who represents La Vérendrye in the province’s southeast, was chosen in a closed-door caucus meeting Tuesday morning.

Khan announced late Monday afternoon that he was quitting caucus and will sit in the legislature as an independent MLA.

“We’re not fractured,” Narth said shortly after being selected and just hours before the legislature resumed sitting after a summer break of nearly four months.

Read
Updated: 1:59 PM CDT
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Dr. Nichelle Desilets

Eliminating short-term sick notes ‘big step forward’: Doctors Manitoba

Matthew Frank 4 minute read Preview

Eliminating short-term sick notes ‘big step forward’: Doctors Manitoba

Matthew Frank 4 minute read Updated: 6:32 PM CDT

Manitoba doctors will no longer be required to issue sick notes for short-term employee absences due to illness or injury, starting Thursday.

The new provincial legislation, which officially passed in June, will only allow employers to request the medical documents when an employee has been absent for more than a week or if they’ve called in sick 10 or more times in a calendar year.

Dr. Nichelle Desilets, Doctors Manitoba board chair, said the legislation will free up time for physicians to concentrate on medical appointments and called the new rules among the strongest in Canada.

“What may be a small change in the labour code can be a big step forward on improving access to medical care for all Manitobans and using our health care resources wisely,” she said during a news conference Tuesday.

Read
Updated: 6:32 PM CDT
DARREN CALABRESE / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES ‘We warn the government against abusing its majority status and dishonouring the Crown through procedural tools, time allocation or closure to frustrate Parliament’s ability to hear from rights holders and consider amendments,’ National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says.

Canada resorting to its tried and true playbook

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Preview

Canada resorting to its tried and true playbook

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

In 1846, Britain faced an emergency influenced by the Irish famine, so leaders repealed the country’s “Corn Laws” and restrictions on imported food and grain, transitioning to a system of free trade.

This created a crisis in the then Province of Canada, which had relied on British “preferential” status to prop up its agricultural and resource industries.

As a result, Canada looked south for new markets and eventually negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States.

This required land to be acquired and converted for industrial use quickly, so Canada quickly dispatched Commissioner William Robinson to negotiate with Indigenous communities along Lake Huron and Lake Superior for land.

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT
RUTH BONNEVILE / FREE PRESS LOCAL - TRC shirts Elmwood High School students Daniel Concepcion in Grade 12 (glasses) and Lexington Zastre in grade 10 of the shops program, work together screen printing TRC shirts during their class at Elmwood High School (headquarters/shops for Elmwood Supply Co.) on Monday. Story: TRC SCHOOLS: A high school student-run biz, Elmwood Supply Co is printing 800+ TRC designs on black t-shirts with logos of an Elmwood High alum’s design for Orange Shirt Day. The group secured a grant from WSD to distribute shirts to every single student. See story by Maggie Sept 28th, 2026

Orange Shirt Day project fits students to a tee

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Orange Shirt Day project fits students to a tee

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:57 PM CDT

On the eve of Orange Shirt Day, hundreds of black T-shirts will be handed out to teenagers at Elmwood High School — and there wasn’t a mixup in the clothing procurement process.

The student-run business behind the initiative wanted to make a statement about “truth and reconciliation” being a year-round activity, said Daniel Concepcion, a Grade 12 student.

Daniel said given that black is a staple in the wardrobe of teenagers, he hopes these shirts won’t sit on hangers for 364 days of the year.

“Every child matters, every part of the day, every day,” the 17-year-old said.

Read
Yesterday at 6:57 PM CDT
Obsessed stalker who shot, killed young woman at bus stop in 1993 dies behind bars at age 74

Obsessed stalker who shot, killed young woman at bus stop in 1993 dies behind bars at age 74

Erik Pindera 3 minute read Preview

Obsessed stalker who shot, killed young woman at bus stop in 1993 dies behind bars at age 74

Erik Pindera 3 minute read 5:53 PM CDT

A Winnipeg man who stalked a woman for several years before shooting her dead in the street in 1993 has died in Stony Mountain prison.

On Monday, 74-year-old Ronald Edd Bell died of apparent natural causes at the federal prison just north of Winnipeg, the Correctional Service of Canada said.

Bell had been in prison since May 30, 1994, when he was given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 18 years for killing Terry-Lyn Babb, 25, on Jan. 21, 1993.

Bell walked up behind an unsuspecting Babb, who was waiting at a bus stop at Sherbrook Street and Wolseley Avenue, and shot her in the head with a pistol in front of horrified witnesses, says the Free Press report of his sentencing hearing.

Read
5:53 PM CDT