A Kelowna woman is suing Interior Health and several doctors at Vernon Jubilee Hospital, claiming her son’s death in 2021 was the result of negligence and medical malpractice.
Alison Peace launched the notice of civil claim against the health authority and four doctors Dec. 1, alleging “negligence and breach of contract” on the part of the defendants.
According to Peace’s claim, her son, Michael Peace, had reported concerns from a coworker that Michael was suicidal in December 2021. An ambulance attended to him and paramedics administered Narcan. He was brought to the emergency department of Vernon Jubilee Hospital by the RCMP under the Mental Health Act. According to the claim, Michael had long suffered from depression and addiction, and at the hospital, he told staff he had been using about two milligrams of fentanyl per day for about 10 days.
Michael, 36, was prescribed hydromorphone for opioid withdrawal and his vitals were checked. He was transferred to psychiatric care and it was ordered that he should receive constant or one-on-one care. However, Peace’s claim states that one-on-one care was not provided.
The next day, Michael was ordered to receive more hydromorphone as well as Narcan for treatment of respiratory depression. While Michael received five doses of hydromorphone that day, the claim says Narcan was never administered.
The last time Michael was seen conscious was at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 13. According to the claim, he was “locked in his room and was only monitored with CCTV cameras at the nurse station.”
The claim says that despite an order of one-on-one care requiring checks every 15 minutes, Michael was not checked on from 4:30 p.m. until about 11 p.m., which is when the nurse found him unresponsive with “loud snoring type breathing” and with his pillow wet with evidence of vomit and aspiration.
It was found that Michael was hypoxic, and a CT scan confirmed significant aspiration.
It was decided that the man would be moved to Kelowna General Hospital the next morning, but according to the document, he was not transferred there until about 4:50 p.m.
Michael died just before 5 a.m. Dec. 15 at the Kelowna hospital, after his mother and her husband witnessed “chaotic and traumatic resuscitation efforts resulting in psychological injury,” the claim alleges.
“It was the responsibility of the defendant doctors to prescribe the correct treatment for Mr. Peace, to monitor his reaction to the medication, and given his symptoms, to ensure he was receiving one on one care while in the hospital,” reads the claim. “The defendant doctors knew or ought to have known that failure to take appropriate care in prescribing and monitoring Mr. Peace could result in permanent injury or death to Mr. Peace.”
Peace is bringing this action for her own benefit as Michael’s mother, and for the benefit of his two children and his spouse.
Peace is seeking general damages, special damages, past and future healthcare costs, interest and costs.
The Morning Star reached out to Interior Health for comment.
“We are very sorry for this families’ loss,” an Interior Health spokesperson said in a statement. “As the matter may proceed to the courts, we cannot speak to any details of the case at this time.”
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