International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda on Monday admitted she was behind the mysterious “not” that was handwritten on a government document that ended funding for church-backed aid organization Kairos and its international relief work.
Reversing her earlier testimony at a Commons committee — where she had claimed not to know who penned the extra word — and revealed she had, in fact, directed an unnamed official to add the word “not.”
“The funding decision was mine. The ‘not’ was inserted at my direction,” Oda said in a surprise statement in the Commons.
“Given the way the document was formatted allowing only for concurrence, this was the only way to reflect my decision,” she said. “My instructions were to indicate on the document my decision not to provide funding.”
Oda’s statement angered opposition MPs, who said the minister was caught in a clear contradiction in the case, which springs from a 2009 document from the Canadian International Development Agency.
“We have a real problem,” Liberal MP Bob Rae said, noting how the document leaves the impression that two bureaucrats agreed with the decision to end the funding.
“It’s a fabrication of their position,” Rae said. “The story isn’t over because I don’t think her answers are very compelling today.”
That document recommended the renewal of funding for Kairos — also known as the Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives — which is a church-based non-governmental organization that addresses human rights issues worldwide.
“Recommendation — that you sign below to indicate you approve a contribution of $7,098,758, over four years for the above program,” read the document.
Below that are the signatures of Oda along with Naresh Singh, a CIDA vice-president, and Margaret Biggs, CIDA president.
The word “not” had been handwritten before the word “approve,” reversing the intent of the funding recommendation.
Asked point-blank at a December committee meeting who wrote the “not,” Oda replied, “I do not know.”
But Monday — after a public rebuke by Commons Speaker Peter Milliken — Oda changed her tune, saying it was her decision to overrule the agency’s funding recommendation.
“The way in which this case has been handled, including by myself, has been unfortunate,” Oda said.
Opposition MPs are trying to keep the heat on Oda.
NDP MP Paul Dewar wants Oda to appear again before the foreign affairs committee to face question. He raised the prospect of a police investigation if opposition MPs are unable to find out who “doctored” the document.
“We have a problem in terms of consistency with the truth and that’s what we have to get to the bottom of,” Dewar said.
Milliken said last week the whole affair “gives rise to very troubling questions.”
“Any reasonable person confronted with what appears to have transpired would necessarily be extremely concerned, if not shocked, and might well begin to doubt the integrity of certain decision-making processes,” he said.
“In particular, the senior CIDA officials concerned must be deeply disturbed by the doctored document they have been made to appear to have signed,” Milliken said.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has the choice, cash for Quebec or an election, Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe said Sunday.
ST-HYACINTHE – Prime Minister Stephen Harper has the choice, cash for Quebec or an election, Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe said Sunday.
“I am now challenging Stephen Harper to respond to Quebec’s expectations,” Duceppe Duceppe said in a speech Sunday closing a party general council meeting attended by 700 Bloc members. “We are asking for simple fairness, elementary justice."
And Duceppe said if Harper does not respond to Quebec’s expectations, Quebecers will understand he has written the province off.
“Quebecers will remember in the next election,” Duceppe said. “Mr. Harper has a choice. He can respond to Quebec’s expectations or he can spark elections.
“On our side, we will not fold. We are going to stand up for Quebec.
My dear friends, prepare yourselves for a rough battle.”
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Bloc+Qu%c3%a9b%c3%a9cois+Stephen+Harper+face+voters/4274418/story.html#ixzz1DuQfm29M
“I am now challenging Stephen Harper to respond to Quebec’s expectations,” Duceppe Duceppe said in a speech Sunday closing a party general council meeting attended by 700 Bloc members. “We are asking for simple fairness, elementary justice."
And Duceppe said if Harper does not respond to Quebec’s expectations, Quebecers will understand he has written the province off.
“Quebecers will remember in the next election,” Duceppe said. “Mr. Harper has a choice. He can respond to Quebec’s expectations or he can spark elections.
“On our side, we will not fold. We are going to stand up for Quebec.
My dear friends, prepare yourselves for a rough battle.”
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Bloc+Qu%c3%a9b%c3%a9cois+Stephen+Harper+face+voters/4274418/story.html#ixzz1DuQfm29M
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Canada Border Services Agency officer Daniel Greenhalgh convicted of groping four women
Border guard convicted of groping four women should go to jail: Crown
Canada Border Services Agency officer Daniel Greenhalgh leaves B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on Friday, September 17, 2010.Photograph by: Les Bazso, PNGSending Daniel Greenhalgh to jail will deter other border officers from committing similar crimes, the prosecution at his trial argued Friday.
A B.C. Supreme Court jury found Greenhalgh guilty in October of three counts of sexual assault and one count of breach of trust by a public officer.
Greenhalgh worked for Canada Border Services Agency at the Douglas border crossing when, in separate incidents, he strip-searched four women without their consent in April and May of 2007 and sexually touched three of them.
One of the incidents took place in a public washroom while the three others took place in fenced outdoor areas.
Crown prosecutor Winston Sayson said the four victims have been profoundly affected.
Victim-impact statements showed that some of the women continued to have trouble with people in positions of authority and felt humiliated and embarrassed.
“I just hope that no more women have to go through it,” one victim wrote.
Sayson gave Justice Frits Verhoeven two sentencing suggestions: a 2-1/2- to three-year sentence in a federal penitentiary or two years less a day in a provincial jail followed by three years of probation. Sayson said a conditional sentence — one served in the community — is not appropriate.
One of the primary goals of Greenhalgh’s sentence should be to send a message to others, he added.
“This is a case that screams for deterrence,” Sayson said. “It is an appalling and atrocious abuse of his authority.”
Greenhalgh’s lawyer, Joe McCarthy, disagreed.
He suggested a conditional sentence of two years less a day, followed by a period of probation. If Verhoeven decides that a term of incarceration is necessary, McCarthy said 12 to 15 months in a provincial jail is sufficient.
“It is not a lenient sentence, My Lord. There is more than one way to punish a man,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said Greenhalgh has also been punished because of the “negative publicity” the case has received.
He said Greenhalgh’s name and face have repeatedly been linked to the crimes of which he was convicted. Greenhalgh lost his career, family, social standing, home and savings.
“No one would think he got off lightly,” McCarthy said. “Mr. Greenhalgh has risen high and fallen farther.”
There is also no need to deter other border guards from committing similar offences, McCarthy said.
“This is an unusual offence . . . The deterrence is already there.”
Verhoeven is scheduled to deliver his decision March 4.
At the beginning of the day Sayson told the judge that Greenhalgh’s father had attempted to interfere with the pre-sentence report prepared by a probation officer.
David Greenhalgh, a former police officer, tried to have the probation officer remove parts of the report that cast his son in an negative light, Sayson said.
McCarthy said Greenhalgh’s father had done this contrary to Greenhalgh’s and McCarthy’s instructions, and apologized to the court on David’s behalf.
“He’s an emotional man. He did a foolish thing,” McCarthy said.
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Border+guard+convicted+groping+four+women+should+jail+Crown/4272200/story.html#ixzz1Dp6pSojg
Canada Border Services Agency officer Daniel Greenhalgh leaves B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on Friday, September 17, 2010.Photograph by: Les Bazso, PNGSending Daniel Greenhalgh to jail will deter other border officers from committing similar crimes, the prosecution at his trial argued Friday.
A B.C. Supreme Court jury found Greenhalgh guilty in October of three counts of sexual assault and one count of breach of trust by a public officer.
Greenhalgh worked for Canada Border Services Agency at the Douglas border crossing when, in separate incidents, he strip-searched four women without their consent in April and May of 2007 and sexually touched three of them.
One of the incidents took place in a public washroom while the three others took place in fenced outdoor areas.
Crown prosecutor Winston Sayson said the four victims have been profoundly affected.
Victim-impact statements showed that some of the women continued to have trouble with people in positions of authority and felt humiliated and embarrassed.
“I just hope that no more women have to go through it,” one victim wrote.
Sayson gave Justice Frits Verhoeven two sentencing suggestions: a 2-1/2- to three-year sentence in a federal penitentiary or two years less a day in a provincial jail followed by three years of probation. Sayson said a conditional sentence — one served in the community — is not appropriate.
One of the primary goals of Greenhalgh’s sentence should be to send a message to others, he added.
“This is a case that screams for deterrence,” Sayson said. “It is an appalling and atrocious abuse of his authority.”
Greenhalgh’s lawyer, Joe McCarthy, disagreed.
He suggested a conditional sentence of two years less a day, followed by a period of probation. If Verhoeven decides that a term of incarceration is necessary, McCarthy said 12 to 15 months in a provincial jail is sufficient.
“It is not a lenient sentence, My Lord. There is more than one way to punish a man,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said Greenhalgh has also been punished because of the “negative publicity” the case has received.
He said Greenhalgh’s name and face have repeatedly been linked to the crimes of which he was convicted. Greenhalgh lost his career, family, social standing, home and savings.
“No one would think he got off lightly,” McCarthy said. “Mr. Greenhalgh has risen high and fallen farther.”
There is also no need to deter other border guards from committing similar offences, McCarthy said.
“This is an unusual offence . . . The deterrence is already there.”
Verhoeven is scheduled to deliver his decision March 4.
At the beginning of the day Sayson told the judge that Greenhalgh’s father had attempted to interfere with the pre-sentence report prepared by a probation officer.
David Greenhalgh, a former police officer, tried to have the probation officer remove parts of the report that cast his son in an negative light, Sayson said.
McCarthy said Greenhalgh’s father had done this contrary to Greenhalgh’s and McCarthy’s instructions, and apologized to the court on David’s behalf.
“He’s an emotional man. He did a foolish thing,” McCarthy said.
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Border+guard+convicted+groping+four+women+should+jail+Crown/4272200/story.html#ixzz1Dp6pSojg
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Alteration of document defunding aid agency 'gives rise to very troubling questions' : Speaker Peter Milliken
Alteration of document defunding aid agency 'gives rise to very troubling questions'
Last Updated: Friday, February 11, 2011 | 1:52 PM ET
, CBC News
Speaker Peter Milliken has ruled a 2009 CIDA document signed by International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda, which defunded the aid agency KAIROS, was 'doctored.'A scathing ruling by the Commons Speaker Peter Milliken confirms that a key government document signed by International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda and two of her most senior officials was deliberately “doctored.”
Milliken called the document tampering "very troubling."
“Any reasonable person confronted with what appears to have transpired would necessarily be extremely concerned, if not shocked,” Milliken wrote in his decision.
Milliken said technicalities prevented him from doing anything further about the incident.
Nonetheless, the Speaker’s harshly worded ruling and Oda’s connection to a doctored document is certain to trigger opposition calls for the minister’s head.
Liberal MP John McKay called the incident “morally reprehensible,” and told CBC News he will be asking the prime minister to take immediate action against Oda.
He said the affair shows Oda’s management of her department has become “a gong show.”
The original document in question was from Oda’s department, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
It recommended the minister approve about $7 million in funding to a long-established faith-based foreign aid agency called KAIROS.
But sometime after the minister’s two top officials had signed the document, someone inserted a hand-scrawled “NOT” into the recommendation.
The change made it appear the department was suggesting the government reject the funding request, which is ultimately what happened.
KAIROS funding cut
Without warning, KAIROS was simply informed it would be getting no money from CIDA, a cut that reportedly represented about 40 per cent of the group’s total funding.
The demise of funding for KAIROS ignited political controversy over whether Stephen Harper’s government was systematically punishing aid groups that do not share its views.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney fanned the flames when he subsequently claimed the government cut off KAIROS because of the group’s criticisms of Israel on the Palestinian issue.
International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda says she has no idea who altered the document she signed. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press file photo)But Oda claimed in the Commons that KAIROS had lost its funding because the group’s work no longer fit with CIDA’s objectives, strongly suggesting she was acting on the recommendation of her department.
The minister’s parliamentary secretary, Conservative MP Jim Abbott, couldn’t have been more clear in the Commons:
“CIDA thoroughly analyzed KAIROS’ program proposal and determined, with regret, that it did not meet the agency’s current priorities.”
Abbott later apologized for unintentionally misleading Parliament.
'Profoundly disturbing questions'
In his Speaker’s ruling Thursday, Milliken acknowledged there are “profoundly disturbing questions that evidently remain unanswered.”
The key one, of course, is who inserted the mysterious “NOT” into a signed document, and why.
Oda’s two top officials have confirmed the document they signed was a strong recommendation to fund KAIROS, a conglomerate of 11 churches that has been delivering foreign aid for more than 35 years.
The two bureaucrats, CIDA head Margaret Biggs and her vice-president, Naresh Singh, have denied altering the document, and say the hand-scrawled “NOT” did not appear on anything they signed.
Oda testified at a parliamentary committee in December that she didn’t insert the mysterious “NOT” on the document, either, but agreed with the decision to cut off KAIROS.
In a series of answers to questions from the committee, Oda said she had no idea who altered the document that carries her signature, which, she said, she may or may not have written.
MCKAY-Privilege-En (2)Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2011/02/11/kairos-speaker-oda.html#ixzz1DijwHHmI
Friday, February 11, 2011
Top court upholds secret evidence law: In ruling stemming from Toronto 18 trial : court says security concerns may let accused walk free.
In ruling stemming from Toronto 18 trial, court says security concerns may let accused walk free
Last Updated: Thursday, February 10, 2011 | 12:39 PM ET
CBC News
Allowing an accused criminal to walk free is a "lesser evil" than disclosing top-secret national security information, the Supreme Court of Canada held Thursday in a ruling stemming from a high-profile terrorism case.
The court was asked to decide whether portions of the Canada Evidence Act, which give the Federal Court — and not the trial judge — authority to decide what material can be withheld if national security is at stake, are constitutional.
In upholding the law, the court said Thursday the provisions sometimes force the choice between protecting national security and prosecuting crimes.
Even though withholding information could harm a person's right to a fair trial, the law allows that in some situations the appropriate remedy would be stopping the prosecution all together, the court said.
"If the end result of non-disclosure by the Crown is that a fair trial cannot be had, then Parliament has determined that in the circumstances a stay of proceedings is the lesser evil compared with the disclosure of sensitive or potentially injurious information," the court said in its ruling.
Toronto 18 terror case
The issue arose in the terrorism case known as the Toronto 18, when Ontario Superior Court Justice Fletcher Dawson struck down provisions of the Canada Evidence Act.
Prosecutors in the case — as is common in terrorism cases — argued that disclosing certain information to the defence could hurt national security.
Dawson struck down portions of the act that gave the Federal Court power to determine privilege because he said they interfered with the Superior Court's jurisdiction to apply the constitution.
The Supreme Court acknowledged the legislation deprives judges of the ability to order the disclosure or even their own inspection of material that is withheld on national security grounds.
But it said there are other remedies available to the judge to protect an accused's right to a fair trial, such as a stay of the entire proceeding.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2011/02/10/bc-scoc-secret-evidence.html#ixzz1DdRLdkC8
Thursday, February 10, 2011
bill — C-389 Transgender protection bill approved .
An NDP private member's bill to protect transgender people from discrimination was passed by the House of Commons, but could face a roadblock in the Conservative dominated Senate.
The bill — C-389 — seeks to add protection to Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code for those who've changed gender or are in transition.
It was introduced by British Columbia New Democrat MP Bill Siksay and has faced a storm of criticism from lobby groups such as REAL Women and Campaign Life Coalition.
Both groups argue it will protect sexual predators — something that Siksay dismisses as ridiculous and alarmist.
He says criminal behaviour will still be prosecuted.
The vote Wednesday pretty much split along party lines with the Conservative government voting against, but MPs from the Liberals, Bloc Quebecois and the NDP supporting it.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2011/02/09/ndp-transgender.html#socialcomments#ixzz1DXARIHB8
The bill — C-389 — seeks to add protection to Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code for those who've changed gender or are in transition.
It was introduced by British Columbia New Democrat MP Bill Siksay and has faced a storm of criticism from lobby groups such as REAL Women and Campaign Life Coalition.
Both groups argue it will protect sexual predators — something that Siksay dismisses as ridiculous and alarmist.
He says criminal behaviour will still be prosecuted.
The vote Wednesday pretty much split along party lines with the Conservative government voting against, but MPs from the Liberals, Bloc Quebecois and the NDP supporting it.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2011/02/09/ndp-transgender.html#socialcomments#ixzz1DXARIHB8
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Senior Drugged Against Family's Wishes
The daughter of an elderly dementia patient is revealing how her mother was given a potentially dangerous drug - unapproved for treating her condition - in B.C. care facilities.
Hilda Penner was given the anti-psychotic drug Loxapine, without consent and despite her daughter's objections, records provided by her family show.
"We told them they were not to give her anti-psychotic drugs," said daughter Doreen Bodnar of the care facilities. "We knew those drugs were terrible for her - that they did terrible things to her."
Penner was given Loxapine and other anti-psychotic drugs several times over a two-year period, as she was moved through several facilities in B.C.'s Fraser Valley.
According to Health Canada, Loxapine is intended for treating schizophrenia, but is not approved for dementia patients. In 2005, the agency warned anti-psychotic drugs have been linked to a higher death rate among seniors with that condition.
Records show the drug eventually contributed to Penner suffering a major seizure.
The 83-year-old died in November of natural causes. Her case is now under investigation by the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons and the B.C. Ombudsperson.
"[Health care staff] made an invalid out of her," said Bodnar. "She couldn't walk and, a lot of times, she couldn't talk because they had her so drugged - and her condition got worse and worse and worse."
Doctor knew family's wishes: daughter
Penner was initially placed in Cheam Village in Agassiz in 2008. She had suffered from a stroke three years earlier. Bodnar said the family was unable to care for her at home, because dementia was setting in.
They chose Cheam because Penner's physician, Dr. Lachlan MacIntosh, was the medical director on site. Bodnar said MacIntosh knew the family was opposed to anti-psychotic drugs, because Penner had suffered adverse effects from another drug in that same class that she had taken after she had her stroke.
However, Penner did not settle in at Cheam, Bodnar said, and would constantly ask people to take her home.
"She wasn't ready to be locked up. She called me 17 times the first day. 'Get me out of here. Get me out of here. Get me out of here,'" said Bodnar.
"She was very repetitive. I guess that's why they started drugging her, because she just got annoying."
Doctor resigned
Records show MacIntosh authorized staff to administer Loxapine to Penner, after staff called him to say they couldn't settle her down.
"I did prescribe medications to Mrs. Penner without informing her family, not getting their consent," MacIntosh is recorded as saying in the records. "This was done, initially as a matter of urgency, in response to requests from nursing."
"He said [nursing staff] must have caught me in a weak moment," Bodnar recalled of her conversation with MacIntosh at the time. "That was the first thing that he told us. We were devastated when we found out that that's what he had done."
MacIntosh's assistant told CBC News he has "nothing to say" about the case.
In his response to the College, MacIntosh wrote Penner's agitation increased, to the point that she would "hit out" at other residents. He added that he often approved drug changes for patients over the phone.
"In defence of the prescription 'without consent,'" he wrote, "I would say this is probably a daily occurrence ... I had not been in the habit of informing families at that time."
Changes have been made since, he added, "I introduced a consent form for the use of anti-psychotics."
MacIntosh also told the College he also stepped down as medical director at Cheam, because of the fallout over the Penner case.
"I resigned...feeling I had been responsible for undue and unnecessary investigations of the facility by the authorities."
Family not informed of prescription
Bodnar said she discovered her mother was on the drug several weeks after it was first prescribed, when she showed up for a visit and her mother was incoherent.
"The care aide got her up - you know, he was just shaking her. 'Come on Hilda - wake up. Wake up.' She couldn't wake up. She was so dozy ... it was only then they told me she was being drugged."
Bodnar acknowledged her mother was very difficult for staff to deal with, but said she felt that was no excuse.
"I think that's the nature of dementia. I think you have to realize that when you take on the job. You don't have to drug people into oblivion, especially when it is threatening their life," Bodnar said.
Laura Watts, outgoing director of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law, pointed out it is illegal to give patients drug treatment without consent.
"It's clear. You cannot provide treatment to somebody unless they as a capable adult agree or if they are not capable the correct legal substitute decision maker. There is no end run that can be used," she said.
Watts said this is not an isolated case, and she has heard many similar complaints.
"This is happening as an epidemic across the country, and it has to stop. We would never accept drugging people with developmental disabilities, and what we are now doing is drugging our senior population into submission."
Dr. Paula Rochon at the Women's College Hospital in Toronto has studied the risks of using anti-psychotic drugs to manage dementia patients. She said there is almost always a better alternative.
"There are problems that can be solved in other ways," said Rochon. "We need to find better ways to manage these people so that they are comfortable and well looked after and they are safe."
Senior certified 'incapable'
Penner's family eventually took her to hospital in Chilliwack. Fraser Health then placed her in a "special care" unit at Maplewood House in Abbotsford, where staff again gave her Loxapine.
Her daughter complained again - in writing - and the drugs were stopped two weeks later.
Soon afterward, however, staff sent Penner to the Abbotsford Regional Hospital, where doctors certified her 'incapable' under B.C.'s mental health legislation. That meant her family no longer had any legal say over her care.
Watts said that the mental health legislation can be used inappropriately. "Once someone is certified - when you are in a situation of combat [with family] - it is a trap door that the system will use and certainly it is not appropriate to be used in most of these cases."
"We were scared when she was at the hospital to do anything," said Bodnar. "Because we were afraid when they certified her that if we spoke up at all they were going to just bar us from the hospital - and then mom would have nobody to speak for her."
Drugs triggered seizure
Records show Penner was put back on Loxapine again, and then suffered a major seizure.
"The seizure may be contributed to by her Loxapine and other anti-psychotic medications," reads a neurologist's assessment done at the time. "Nonetheless, I do not think we can stop them due to her extremely difficult-to-control behaviour."
Penner was eventually discharged to another care home in Langley, where Bodnar said she continued to deteriorate, but was not given any anti-psychotics. She died soon afterward, from complications caused by a blood clot.
Fraser Health declined a request for an interview, but sent a statement, which says anti-psychotic drugs are used on dementia patients when staff is unable to calm them down another way.
"While the preferred approach is to look for alternative ways to reduce the distress patients experience associated with dementia, medications, including anti-psychotics, are sometimes necessary."
'Standard practice': health authority
In Penner's case, Fraser Health calls the use of Loxapine "in keeping with standard practice."
B.C.'s acting health minister, Colin Hansen, indicated he is concerned about the increased use of such drugs in provincial facilities. He told CBC News he has ordered a review "immediately."
"We need to look more carefully at the manner in which the use of anti- psychotic drugs has grown," said Hansen. "I have asked Ministry of Health officials to work with the health authorities and to work with the College of Physicians and Surgeons ...to look at why."
Doreen Bodnar said she believes staff shortages, and perhaps lack of training or motivation, are the root of the problem.
"I think they want their job as easy as possible and a lot of times there is probably not enough of them," said Bodnar. "The doctors are not there to see if there's an actual problem."
Hilda Penner was given the anti-psychotic drug Loxapine, without consent and despite her daughter's objections, records provided by her family show.
"We told them they were not to give her anti-psychotic drugs," said daughter Doreen Bodnar of the care facilities. "We knew those drugs were terrible for her - that they did terrible things to her."
Penner was given Loxapine and other anti-psychotic drugs several times over a two-year period, as she was moved through several facilities in B.C.'s Fraser Valley.
According to Health Canada, Loxapine is intended for treating schizophrenia, but is not approved for dementia patients. In 2005, the agency warned anti-psychotic drugs have been linked to a higher death rate among seniors with that condition.
Records show the drug eventually contributed to Penner suffering a major seizure.
The 83-year-old died in November of natural causes. Her case is now under investigation by the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons and the B.C. Ombudsperson.
"[Health care staff] made an invalid out of her," said Bodnar. "She couldn't walk and, a lot of times, she couldn't talk because they had her so drugged - and her condition got worse and worse and worse."
Doctor knew family's wishes: daughter
Penner was initially placed in Cheam Village in Agassiz in 2008. She had suffered from a stroke three years earlier. Bodnar said the family was unable to care for her at home, because dementia was setting in.
They chose Cheam because Penner's physician, Dr. Lachlan MacIntosh, was the medical director on site. Bodnar said MacIntosh knew the family was opposed to anti-psychotic drugs, because Penner had suffered adverse effects from another drug in that same class that she had taken after she had her stroke.
However, Penner did not settle in at Cheam, Bodnar said, and would constantly ask people to take her home.
"She wasn't ready to be locked up. She called me 17 times the first day. 'Get me out of here. Get me out of here. Get me out of here,'" said Bodnar.
"She was very repetitive. I guess that's why they started drugging her, because she just got annoying."
Doctor resigned
Records show MacIntosh authorized staff to administer Loxapine to Penner, after staff called him to say they couldn't settle her down.
"I did prescribe medications to Mrs. Penner without informing her family, not getting their consent," MacIntosh is recorded as saying in the records. "This was done, initially as a matter of urgency, in response to requests from nursing."
"He said [nursing staff] must have caught me in a weak moment," Bodnar recalled of her conversation with MacIntosh at the time. "That was the first thing that he told us. We were devastated when we found out that that's what he had done."
MacIntosh's assistant told CBC News he has "nothing to say" about the case.
In his response to the College, MacIntosh wrote Penner's agitation increased, to the point that she would "hit out" at other residents. He added that he often approved drug changes for patients over the phone.
"In defence of the prescription 'without consent,'" he wrote, "I would say this is probably a daily occurrence ... I had not been in the habit of informing families at that time."
Changes have been made since, he added, "I introduced a consent form for the use of anti-psychotics."
MacIntosh also told the College he also stepped down as medical director at Cheam, because of the fallout over the Penner case.
"I resigned...feeling I had been responsible for undue and unnecessary investigations of the facility by the authorities."
Family not informed of prescription
Bodnar said she discovered her mother was on the drug several weeks after it was first prescribed, when she showed up for a visit and her mother was incoherent.
"The care aide got her up - you know, he was just shaking her. 'Come on Hilda - wake up. Wake up.' She couldn't wake up. She was so dozy ... it was only then they told me she was being drugged."
Bodnar acknowledged her mother was very difficult for staff to deal with, but said she felt that was no excuse.
"I think that's the nature of dementia. I think you have to realize that when you take on the job. You don't have to drug people into oblivion, especially when it is threatening their life," Bodnar said.
Laura Watts, outgoing director of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law, pointed out it is illegal to give patients drug treatment without consent.
"It's clear. You cannot provide treatment to somebody unless they as a capable adult agree or if they are not capable the correct legal substitute decision maker. There is no end run that can be used," she said.
Watts said this is not an isolated case, and she has heard many similar complaints.
"This is happening as an epidemic across the country, and it has to stop. We would never accept drugging people with developmental disabilities, and what we are now doing is drugging our senior population into submission."
Dr. Paula Rochon at the Women's College Hospital in Toronto has studied the risks of using anti-psychotic drugs to manage dementia patients. She said there is almost always a better alternative.
"There are problems that can be solved in other ways," said Rochon. "We need to find better ways to manage these people so that they are comfortable and well looked after and they are safe."
Senior certified 'incapable'
Penner's family eventually took her to hospital in Chilliwack. Fraser Health then placed her in a "special care" unit at Maplewood House in Abbotsford, where staff again gave her Loxapine.
Her daughter complained again - in writing - and the drugs were stopped two weeks later.
Soon afterward, however, staff sent Penner to the Abbotsford Regional Hospital, where doctors certified her 'incapable' under B.C.'s mental health legislation. That meant her family no longer had any legal say over her care.
Watts said that the mental health legislation can be used inappropriately. "Once someone is certified - when you are in a situation of combat [with family] - it is a trap door that the system will use and certainly it is not appropriate to be used in most of these cases."
"We were scared when she was at the hospital to do anything," said Bodnar. "Because we were afraid when they certified her that if we spoke up at all they were going to just bar us from the hospital - and then mom would have nobody to speak for her."
Drugs triggered seizure
Records show Penner was put back on Loxapine again, and then suffered a major seizure.
"The seizure may be contributed to by her Loxapine and other anti-psychotic medications," reads a neurologist's assessment done at the time. "Nonetheless, I do not think we can stop them due to her extremely difficult-to-control behaviour."
Penner was eventually discharged to another care home in Langley, where Bodnar said she continued to deteriorate, but was not given any anti-psychotics. She died soon afterward, from complications caused by a blood clot.
Fraser Health declined a request for an interview, but sent a statement, which says anti-psychotic drugs are used on dementia patients when staff is unable to calm them down another way.
"While the preferred approach is to look for alternative ways to reduce the distress patients experience associated with dementia, medications, including anti-psychotics, are sometimes necessary."
'Standard practice': health authority
In Penner's case, Fraser Health calls the use of Loxapine "in keeping with standard practice."
B.C.'s acting health minister, Colin Hansen, indicated he is concerned about the increased use of such drugs in provincial facilities. He told CBC News he has ordered a review "immediately."
"We need to look more carefully at the manner in which the use of anti- psychotic drugs has grown," said Hansen. "I have asked Ministry of Health officials to work with the health authorities and to work with the College of Physicians and Surgeons ...to look at why."
Doreen Bodnar said she believes staff shortages, and perhaps lack of training or motivation, are the root of the problem.
"I think they want their job as easy as possible and a lot of times there is probably not enough of them," said Bodnar. "The doctors are not there to see if there's an actual problem."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)