Man who died of exposure not monitored for medication: Yukon coroner

Yukon's Health and Social Services department says it accepts the recommendations of a coroner's report, which says the territorial government could have done more to prevent the 2014 death of a 33-year-old Pelly Crossing man. 

In January of last year, Robin Charlie Sam was found dead from exposure near Two Mile Hill in Whitehorse. 

Sam was legally required to take medication to control his generalized seizure disorder. However, Chief Coroner Kirsten Macdonald says he was not regularly checked, and had stopped taking his medication, saying in her report that Health and Social Services should have done a better job monitoring him.

Medication order

"It's tragic, that this happened to this young man," says MLA Jan Stick, the territorial NDP's health critic. "And if we go on further and look at the recommendations, I think the coroner's very clear what needs to come of this."

Stick went on to say that she thinks Sam might still be alive if he had been monitored properly, and that the department should provide an explanation as to why he was not monitored.

Sam had been ordered to take the medication by the Yukon Review Board, the agency responsible for people charged with a criminal offence, but found unfit to stand trial or not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder.

Sam was in Whitehorse for a hearing of the board when he died. At the hearing, however he was disoriented, frightened, moaning, rocking back and forth and clenching his fists. He left shortly after it began.

Sam was found dead of exposure three days later. A pathologist determined his seizure disorder contributed to his death.

History of not taking medication

The coroner's report says despite having a history of not taking his medication, nobody ensured that he was regularly checked.

Macdonald recommended that all Yukon Review Board dispositions be monitored and an oversight process established.

Pat Living, a spokesperson for Health and Social Services, says that Sam's situation was a unique arrangement for the department, and should a similar situation occur again, the department recognizes the need for better tracking of the individual.

Stick says there may have been some unique aspects about the Sam case, but that it's not unusual for the department to be involved in implementing board dispositions.