PPAO in the Media
The London Free Press
October 19, 2004
Inquest gets off to rocky start:
Lawyers get into a verbal clash over the psychiatric hospital death
An inquest into the death of a 31-year-old patient at a St. Thomas psychiatric hospital sparked controversy before the first witness was called yesterday.
Christopher Magee of Strathroy, described by one witness as an "agitated man with a compulsion to shove food in his mouth," died Nov. 13, 2003, in the forensic unit of Regional Mental Health Centre, St. Thomas. An inquest is mandatory when a patient dies while in custody in a mental health facility. In his application for legal standing at the hearing, Nils Riis, legal counsel for the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office, said if the standard of care that existed when Magee died remains unchanged, it might put other patients at risk. Riis said eventual recommendations from the jury are bound to affect forensic patients who don't have standing at the inquest.
Other counsel, including Steve Schenke who represents several doctors, took issue with the comments and noted the inquest was not about finding fault. David Nash, legal counsel for St. Joseph's Health Care, which operates the Regional Mental Health Centers in St. Thomas and London, said he was shocked and described the comments as finger-pointing. Coroner Dr. Thomas Wilson told the jury commends made in that context should not be accepted as evidence. Wilson granted Riis standing at the inquest.
Witnesses said Magee had severe mental health problems and was sent to the Regional Mental Health Centre on a court order for an assessment just before his death. Because of Magee's behaviour and the need to protect him, he was often kept in a seclusion area, a type of room with a cell door, mattress, toilet and wash basin, witnesses said. Magee's psychotic behaviour meant he couldn't eat with other patients because he often took their food and acted out against staff at other times with verbal or physical confrontations.
A London neurologist who saw Magee a month before his death testified he was sedated and lethargic. Dr. Don McLachlan said he lightened the prescription for medication to control Magee's epilepsy, even though that meant risk of more seizures. Just before Magee's death, the inquest heard, his mother expressed concern about how she believed her son's condition was getting worse.
The inquest continues today at the Stoneridge Inn.
