Manitoba’s chief medical examiner retires

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/08/2016 (3342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The chief medical examiner who ordered inquests into the high-profile deaths of Brian Sinclair, Drianna Ross and Craig McDougall has retired.

For nearly two decades, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra has investigated sudden or unexplained deaths, testified at pivotal court hearings and made the final decisions on whether to call judicial inquests into fatalities.

At the helm since 1998, Balachandra retired June 30, according to a recently released provincial order in council. 

Dr. John Younes, a pathologist who has been the deputy chief medical examiner since 2013, has been named as Manitoba’s acting chief medical examiner.

It was Balachandra who ordered the inquest into the 2008 death of 45-year-old double amputee Sinclair, who died after waiting 34 hours at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre’s emergency room without treatment. Balachandra also testified at the inquest, saying he hopes the inquest leads to changes in emergency-room procedures and reduces wait times.

“I’m not saying doctors are bad  — we have world-class doctors,” he testified in 2013. “But there’s something wrong somewhere. It’s no one’s fault, but the system has to be rejigged.”

The inquest resulted in a 200-page report with 63 recommendations to improve Manitoba emergency rooms. 

It is the chief medical examiner’s job to decide whether an inquest — a court hearing to examine the facts surrounding a death — should be called. The decision is based on whether the general public will benefit from the information being made public during such a hearing.

Inquests are typically called in Manitoba when someone dies at the hands of police, in custody or when under the care of the provincial government.

Balachandra was also involved in high-profile court cases such as Andrea Giesbrecht, the woman accused of concealing six infant remains. He clashed with Giesbrecht’s lawyer, who wanted to bring in Dr. Peter Markesteyn, the former longtime provincial medical examiner, to give an independent opinion of all medical evidence in case. Balachandra refused to allow him entry unless he had a court order.

Drianna Ross, of God’s Lake First Nation, was two months old when she died at the Thompson General Hospital in November 2011. An inquest was ordered by Balachandra, under the Fatality Inquiries Act, after her parents repeatedly took her to the local nursing station and she was never once seen by a doctor. A nurse prescribed Tylenol to bring down her fever.

Nine recommendations were included in the 41-page report, which suggested changes to the way nursing stations and hospitals treat northern patients.

The inquest into the 2008 death of McDougall by a police shooting made headlines on Monday after the long-awaited inquest into his death was delayed when new witness information came to light.

McDougall, a 26-year-old Oji-Cree man, was shot and killed by police outside his family home on Simcoe Street in 2008.  

The example of the McDougall case is why Balachandra’s position is one that was “very important and very difficult”, explained Minto MLA Andrew Swan. Swan served as the justice minister and attorney general for five years under the NDP Selinger government. 

“When there is a criminal case pending, the inquest gets postponed. I know that is frustrating for families and the public, but it is a system in which the chief medical examiner works,” Swan said. “He is asked to make decisions on a number of different situations where death occurs and in general, I think Dr. Balachandra has done the citizens of Manitoba good service.”

A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Heather Stefanson said she would not comment until the Free Press had spoken to Balachandra. A request for comment to Balachandra was not returned.

The chief examiner is also responsible for investigating all unexpected and violent deaths in the province; some medical doctors throughout Manitoba are appointed as medical examiners and carry out investigations on behalf of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca