First Nations man sues Northern, Winnipeg health authorities, MD in The Pas for misdiagnosis, deficient care based in systemic bias

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This article was published 27/12/2024 (255 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An Indigenous man is suing health officials and a doctor after his appendicitis was allegedly misdiagnosed as a hangover at the hospital in The Pas, forcing him to take an 11 1/2 hour bus ride to Winnipeg, where he claims he waited in agony for hours to receive help at a city hospital.

A trio of Toronto lawyers filed the lawsuit in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench on Dec. 19 on behalf of Justin Flett, a Tataskweyak Cree Nation man who resides in Winnipeg.

The First Nation is located on the shore of Split Lake, northeast of Thompson.

Prior to his medical emergency in January 2023 and resultant complications, the father of six, who is in his mid-40s, owned and operated a successful construction contracting business, his claim says.

Flett claims his appendix burst while awaiting care, leaving him with lasting health problems.

The lawsuit names the Northern Regional Health Authority, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and a doctor at St. Anthony’s General Hospital in The Pas as defendants. None have filed a statement of defence.

Flett’s lawyers allege the poor care he received in The Pas, under the NRHA and from the doctor, was at least partially due to stereotypes about Indigenous people being intoxicated.

Further, they allege his care overall, including in Winnipeg, was affected by systemic bias.

“The defendants were aware of the existence of systemic bias in the health care system, that Aboriginal patients suffer disproportionately poor health outcomes, and that there have been other instances of Aboriginal patients being ignored leading to tragic outcomes including some which were widely publicized, and they had a heightened duty to overcome those barriers,” reads the claim.

Flett’s lawsuit is seeking a declaration that the Northern authority breached his charter rights to life, liberty and security as a person, as well as his right to equal treatment and protection of law. The statement of claim is also seeking general, aggravated and special damages to be determined at trial, plus $500,000 in punitive and exemplary damages, interest and court costs.

The claim accuses the defendants of negligence and breaching their duty of care, with health-care staff treating Flett indifferently and callously over the course of 37 hours since first arriving at a hospital.

The claim alleges Flett, who was in The Pas visiting his elderly mother in January 2023, went to the emergency department at St. Anthony’s General Hospital at 7 a.m. on Jan. 15 that year, after sharp abdominal pain and nausea began the previous evening and worsened overnight.

He was given anti-nausea medication by a nurse and waited to be triaged. His claim alleges he was given the lowest-priority on the triage scale, despite his pain.

Flett was eventually taken for an examination by the defendant doctor, who had seen him the prior day for a hand injury. He told the doctor he was in severe pain and that it hurt to sit or stand, the claim alleges.

Flett claims the doctor pressed lightly on his abdomen, before he said words to the effect of, “I don’t know what to tell you, we don’t treat you here for hangovers,” the lawsuit alleges.

“Mr. Flett was not hung over. He told (the doctor) that he was not hung over and that something else was causing the pain. Mr. Flett exhibited symptoms that were not typical of a hangover or intoxication,” reads the claim. “His abdominal pain was far more severe than anything that might be expected from a hangover. Mr. Flett described the pain as being ‘ten out of ten.’”

Flett claims the doctor did not provide him any further treatment or diagnosis based on his false assumptions, forcing Flett to “gingerly” stagger to the bus station 800 metres away — a journey that took more than half an hour given his pain — to purchase a ride to the city to seek help.

The bus left around 11 a.m. and took and 11 1/2 hours, during which he laid on the floor clutching his abdomen, unable to sit or stand, the claim alleges.

Flett called 911 from a payphone once he arrived at Winnipeg’s airport and the operator advised him to take a cab, which dropped him off at Seven Oaks General Hospital shortly after midnight Jan. 16, 2023, the claim says.

The lawsuit alleges Flett was correctly triaged as a priority at Seven Oaks but told a nurse he could not sit or stand, so told her he would lay on the ground near the security desk, where he remained in pain for “several hours,” with no one coming to check on him or check his vital signs.

The lawsuit alleges failures to check up on Flett contravened protocols put in place following the death of Brian Sinclair in 2008, who died after waiting for treatment in the Health Sciences Centre for more than a day.

It was some time after 4 a.m. that Flett waved down a doctor who was passing through the waiting room, the lawsuit claims, and told him how much pain he was in and how long he had been waiting.

The doctor escorted him to an exam room and quickly diagnosed him with likely appendicitis, then prescribed him painkillers and antibiotics, the claim says, before ordering testing that confirmed he needed his appendix removed urgently.

Flett claims despite the doctor’s order at about 8:30 a.m. that he be transferred to the Grace Hospital for emergency surgery, he waited another eight hours as “his life was increasingly placed in peril,” before he was taken to Grace at 5 p.m., where he underwent surgery. His appendix had already burst and an infection had spread.

NRHA spokeswoman Sara Pawlachuk declined comment while the matter is before the courts. The WRHA did not respond to a request for comment Friday. One of Flett’s lawyers, Vilko Zbogar, said the legal team and Flett were not immediately prepared to provide comment on Friday.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca