ONTARIO, CANADA GRANTS SURGEONS/DOCTORS
“MEDICAL IMMUNITY”
The above title for this
article is the absolute truth! After my
seven plus year adventure searching for true transparency and accountability
within Ontario’s
health care system, I have come to accept this.
The very institutions that supposedly protect patient safety are, in
fact, covering up “adverse events” including deaths and harboring negligent
surgeons and doctors. I am confident
any Ontario
citizen dealing with these institutions would agree.
To provide some brief
background, my daughter Terra Dawn went to the hospital for a scheduled day
surgery to remove a tumor from within her abdomen. Now the procedure was to be done in a
minimally evasive manner. (Laparascopic Surgery). The surgeon discovered the tumor was
attached to the colon. He decided to
change the procedure to open abdominal surgery to remove the tumor and perform
a colon resection. Unfortunately, for my
daughter, he did so without administering the mandatory “antibiotic
prophylaxis”. In fact, no antibiotics
were administered at any time prior, during, or post operation even when the
abdominal infection became very infected leading to all the staples being
removed and test results indicating “many gram negative bacilli”. My daughter bled to death less than 12 hours
after being released from this hospital as the colon resection broke down due
to “necrosis of the tissue”.
The hospital took five months
to provide me with the hospital records.
I met with five administrators whereby they entered the room carrying
only two blank scratch pads. They did
not answer one single concern I addressed to them, except to defend their
in-hospital mortality rate which was the second highest in all of Canada. After a three-year ongoing conversation, the
COO of the hospital finally admitted there was no record of the antibiotic
prophylaxis being administered. Of
course, they would not provide any documentation I could use against the
surgeon. They would not provide me with
a copy of the internal hospital investigation. But, I do appreciate the
hospital creating a memorial garden outside the main entrance with a plaque in
Terra’s name. Thusly, this is the first example of “medical immunity” given to
the surgeon by a government funded (taxpayers’ dollar) institution.
The local investigating
coroner informed me the Chief Coroner’s Office of Ontario had deemed the death unusual and was
going go look into the matter further. I
had looked forward to this until they rendered their decision. The motto for this office is “We Speak For
the Dead To Protect The Living”. I would
discover, after many years, this to be a fallacy. When it comes to investigating a death
associated with medical care or lack there of, this Office will ignore the evidence
even when pointed out to them.
This office denied my request
for a public inquest, (they have never granted one involving a hospital),
denied my request for my daughter’s death to go before the Patient Safety Death
Panel, denied my request for an Eastern Ontario Regional Coroner’s
Investigation, denied Mr. Robert Runciman my MPP, presently a Canadian Senator,
to reconsider the public inquest, denied my request to assemble a Chief
Coroner’s panel to look into Deputy Chief’s decisions, denied a request from
the Ontario Ombudsman’s Office to meet with me and address my concerns and
finally denied an Ontario Provincial Police Detective’s request to meet with me
and address my concerns. No, instead
they used their persuasive authority to contact the Toronto Metropolitan Police to investigate my
e-mails. When the O.P.P. detective came
to my home, he stated that the Chief Coroner’s Office had cut and pasted and
taken my e-mails out of context. This
was just an attempt to silence me! Did
this stop my e-mailing and faxing?
No! Behold, twice more I had to
meet with this O.P.P. detective at the station for video taped interviews! Nothing even close to the laying of charges;
it was merely a continued attempt to silence me. Gee, has this Office ever heard of “block
sender” so they wouldn’t receive my e-mails?
No, they wanted to continue to know what I might be up to. I found out later with the co-operation of
the Chief Coroner’s Office this hospital department was shut down temporally in
2010 due to several (5 or 6) deaths similar to my daughter’s –bleeding to
death. This
is the second example of a government funded (taxpayers’ dollars) institution
granting “medical immunity” to this surgeon.
The third institution is not
funded by the Ontario
government but is supposed to be overseen by the Ministry of Health. C.T.V.’s “W-5” and the Toronto
Star have in the past exposed the failings of the Ontario College
of Physicians and Surgeons. They have
been granted self-regulation and Ontario
citizens are to go to them if they have a complaint against a
doctor/surgeon. I did and they appeared
very sincere and helpful, but only to make my complaint weaker. They suggested I rewrite my complaint so it
would be more concise and actually did it for me and me to consent to the
rewrite. What a mistake that was, easier
for them to dismiss, but fortunately when I appeal it, I include my
original. This College rendered its
first decision after seven months. I
appealed it and the decision was sent back.
It then took more than 400 days to receive the second decision that I
immediately appealed. The third
decision was done in record time and of course I appealed this. At this time it should be noted that no
Canadian doctor/surgeon would offer up an opinion with regard to the care of
another Canadian doctor/surgeon. So, to
prepare for all of my appeals, I sent more than 3,000 e-mails to surgeons
throughout the world. I received more
than 100 responses providing me with valuable expert opinions. This was a complete waste of my time as all
institutions ignored these opinions. It
should be noted that the College and their own expert stated in the second
decision with regard to the mandatory antibiotic prophylaxis that the surgeon “neglected”
this and that this was an “oversight”. Being a teacher, I am quite aware the noun
form of neglected is “negligence” which is exactly what I was maintaining. If one goes to the College website, the
surgeon’s record would be spotless, not even the lesser punitive warnings will
show up. The College only acts if there
is a police investigation involved, just look at their decisions over the
years. (sexual impropriety, selling or using illegal drugs, defrauding the
government and oh yes, I did discover that a doctor was severely reprimanded
for prescribing drugs to his neighbour’s dog.
Of course the complainant for this was the College of Veterinarians)
Now, we have the third institution entrusted to protect patient
safety opting to protect a surgeon’s reputation and grant this surgeon “medical
immunity”
One may expect, as I continue
my quest for transparency and accountability, I could depend upon two
institutions funded by the Ontario government (taxpayer’s dollars) and created
to give citizens another avenue to pursue should he or she feel the College of
Physicians and Surgeons had erred and/or the Chief Coroner’s Office had erred.
These accountable institutions
are, in fact, created to give the illusion that an Ontario citizen will not really recognize
the mirage until they have closely examined it.
The Health Professions Appeal
and Review Board is what I turned to next.
Their mandate is to look into College decisions when a complainant
submits a request within 30 days of receiving the College’s decision. I have made three requests and submissions to
this board and had moderate success with the first two appeals and was totally
bewildered by the third appeal decision.
This Board can only examine to see if the College’s decisions are
“adequate” and “reasonable”. I somehow
expected the College’s decisions would be held to a higher degree! This Board totally ignored my expert’s
opinions, the irrefutable facts contained within the hospital records, and
documentation from medical books, journals, articles etc. and the panel without
question accepted the College
Of Physicians and
Surgeons’ unsupported opinions. Oh yes,
it should be noted that a College representative is not required to appear
before this H.P.A.R.B. panel and they do not!
Their attendance is via a telephone conference call even though the
College’s Offices are within walking distance to the H.P.A.R.B. office
building. I traveled over 300 kilometers
to be present. This panel and the Board
lack plain common sense. If H.P.A.R.B.
felt they couldn’t do an “adequate” and “reasonable” job, it should be asking
the Ontario
Government through legislation to give them more authority. After all, all they can judge the College is
on adequacy and reasonability! The fourth institution within Ontario to grant a
surgeon/doctor “medical immunity”!
The fifth institution is the
Death Investigative Oversight Council created to handle complaint against the
Chief Coroner’s Office. Its own mandate
states when an Ontario
citizen submits a complaint against the Chief Coroner it is to be handled
immediately.
Well, two years after my
initial submission, they started to investigate.
It should be noted they failed
immediately with respect to transparency and accountability as they meet behind
closed doors and the complainant and the public is prevented from
attending. Now there is an excellent
start to a citizen’s complaint! When I
received their decision approximately two and a half years after my submission,
I was shocked to see they can not comment on the medical aspects of my
daughter’s care!
So, why were they created as
an avenue for one to pursue? Of course,
any complaint against the Chief Coroner would have to be about a death
investigation, and of course, it would have
medical aspects related to the case.
Again, we have another
government funded (taxpayers’ dollars) institution within Ontario
that has granted “medical immunity” to a surgeon by not challenging the
effectiveness of a death investigation by the Chief Coroner’s Office of Ontario.
At this point, a reader may
ponder, “Why did Mr. Kilby not pursue a malpractice suit?” Three law firms stated that the expense would
be great, as would the amount of time that would go by. Should I win, the judgment would be between
$45,000 and $135,000. This is not the United States of America. This was never about money, but the truth,
transparency and accountability. As well, the Canadian Medical Protection
Association (the medical insurer for all Canadian doctors) has of this date a
Three Billion Dollar Reserve Fund to be used to provide legal council and to
settle malpractice suit that would be the last thing they would do, and only
after years of exhausting delays to a trial.
Every trick in the book would be used with the intent of draining you financially,
emotionally and physically. One must
wonder why our own Ontario
Government pays 85% of the surgeons/doctors membership fees (insurance) to the
C.M.P.A.?
The final institution to grant “medical immunity” to Ontario surgeons and doctors is our Liberal Provincial
Government, and unfortunately all MPP’s within Ontario
whose salaries are paid for by Ontario
taxpayers. I have sent
e-mails, and faxes continuously throughout the years pleading for the Premier,
his Ministers and his Caucus to look into my substantial and very serious concerns
and have been totally ignored.
Unfortunately, the Conservative and New Democratic Party have failed not
only me but also all the citizens of Ontario. So they
have become the final party to grant “medical immunity” to all surgeons/doctors
within Ontario.
It is so wrong to think this,
but I am convinced. In a hospital
setting a surgeon/doctor could actually commit a murder and get away with
it. They are getting away with
negligence contributing to adverse events and deaths taking place in hospitals
with no fear of being reprimanded or held accountable. The record of Terra’s surgeon remains
spotless although there are more deaths associated with him, and there is no
way for citizens to be aware of his past. This is the reality within Ontario.
I would
propose the Ontario Government abolish the
H.P.A.R.B.'s and the D.I.O.C.'s authority to investigate complaints submitted
by Ontario citizens and use this financial
savings to allow the Ontario
Ombudsman to expand their role. (Ontario
is the only province/territory whereby he does not have the authority to
investigate Health Institutions or those related to it)
This article is dedicated to
my daughter, Terra Dawn Kilby, An Angel In Our Lives and to all citizens of
Ontario who have been abused by the non-transparency and un accountability in
this province and those that will encounter the same in the future.
My love, prayers and best
wishes go out to you all.
A.W. Kilby 888 Country Rd 2 Lansdowne,
Ontario
K0E 1L0
TEARS
BEFORE WE SLEEP
As
we lie within our beds,
Streaming
tears are always shed.
This occurs each evening and night,
Waiting
for dawn's first light.
Thoughts of you are all around,
With
many restless nights abound.
Awaking each morning I still dread,
Wishing
and hoping, I was dead.
Your sister and you were very tight;
Continuing
on is quite a fight.
Loneliness, emptiness brings us down,
No
peace as yet--- have we found?
Teardrops fall upon the pillowcase,
With
memories of you, a beautiful face.
A mother's love forever there,
A heart weighted down with such despair.
Terra, we see you most every day,
In
our minds and hearts to forever stay.
Four family hearts in full embrace,
Will
eventually meet in a higher place.
People pass by us -- so unaware--,
It’s like
we are playing solitaire.
Our tearful lives in such disarray,
But
loving you won't fade away.
Love Always,
DAD
This occurs each evening and night,
Thoughts of you are all around,
Awaking each morning I still dread,
Your sister and you were very tight;
Loneliness, emptiness brings us down,
Teardrops fall upon the pillowcase,
A mother's love forever there,
Terra, we see you most every day,
Four family hearts in full embrace,
People pass by us -- so unaware--,
Our tearful lives in such disarray,
Love Always,