Mom's lawsuit alleges negligence led to teen's death at Health Sciences Centre
17-year-old's requests to be admitted to mental health ward denied by staff: statement of claim
WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, please see the end of this story for resources.
The family of a teen who killed herself at a Winnipeg hospital is suing the city's health authority and some of its medical staff for alleged negligence, which they claim led to or materially contributed to the girl's death.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is vicariously liable in the death by suicide of a 17-year-old at the Health Sciences Centre early last year, according to a statement of claim filed by the teen's mother this week.
The lawsuit claims that the 17-year-old entered the hospital's emergency department on March 6, 2023, after she expressed suicidal thoughts to a school counsellor.
The teen requested a triage nurse admit her in the hospital's mental health ward, but the nurse told her she had to consult the matter with a physician, the suit says.
That nurse, who is identified only as Jane Doe, is named as a defendant in the suit.
A doctor, who is also named as a defendant in the suit, denied the request, according to the statement of claim, and the teen was relocated to a room in the care of another unidentified nurse, referred to in the lawsuit as Brenda Doe. She is also named as a defendant.
The lawsuit says the 17-year-old told her mother — who had left so the nurse could speak privately to her daughter — she had been scolded by the nurse while they were alone in the room, and that she was told she would be "afforded time to calm and be sent home," the lawsuit says.
It claims that the teen was agitated and told her mother she wanted to go to the washroom, where she attempted to take her own life. She was declared brain dead on March 10, 2023.
Nurse was dismissive: Statement of claim
The statement of claim says the teen suffered with mental illness and had been previously admitted to the mental health ward for similar complaints.
It says the nurse failed to advocate for the teen and was dismissive of her mental state, and that she and the doctor also failed to consult with a child psychiatrist or another specialist in the case.
The lawsuit says they, as well as the triage nurse, were negligent and vicariously liable for the death, failing to take any adequate history or confiscating her items.
They also didn't recognize her as a suicide risk and didn't inform the mother she shouldn't leave her daughter alone, it claims. The names of the two nurses were unknown to the plaintiff.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority was also negligent because it didn't have a suicide prevention protocol "failing to instruct its employees to inquire about and confiscate" items like belts, shoelaces, cords and computer cables, the lawsuit says.
The plaintiff is seeking more than $130,000 in damages for the teen's family, including for funeral expenses.
No statements of defence have been filed, and none of the allegations in the lawsuit have been tested in court.
If you or someone you know is struggling, here's where to get help:
- Canada's Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 988.
- Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868. Text 686868. Live chat counselling on the website.
- Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre.
- This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health outlines how to talk about suicide with someone you're worried about.
If you're worried someone you know may be at risk of suicide, you should talk to them about it, says the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. Here are some warning signs:
- Suicidal thoughts.
- Substance abuse.
- Purposelessness.
- Anxiety.
- Feeling trapped.
- Hopelessness and helplessness.
- Withdrawal.
- Anger.
- Recklessness.
- Mood changes.
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