|
|
||||
Friday, October 26, 2001 SURRENDER2 nurses turn themselves in on negligence rap
Ontario nurses are working in fear as two of their colleagues face criminal negligence charges, the head of their union says. "(Nurses) leave work every day in fear that they cannot provide safe care because of serious understaffing and working conditions," said Lesley Bell, chief executive officer of the Ontario Nurses Association. "Now they have to worry that they may be criminally charged if something goes terribly wrong on their shifts," Bell says. Ruth Doerksen and Anagaile Soriano turned themselves in to police who charged the two nurses at the Hospital for Sick Children with criminal negligence in the death of 10-year-old Lisa Shore. "The appropriate place to deal with matters like this is the College of Nurses of Ontario, which has undertaken a full investigation to determine the causes and what disciplinary action may be necessary," Bell said. "To bring this to the criminal justice system is simply unfair." Doerksen, 41, and Soriano, 25, ducked a band of reporters and cameras stationed outside 52 Division headquarters. They presented themselves instead at another city police station -- 53 Division -- near Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. Each woman was charged with one count of criminal negligence causing death and released on a promise to appear in College Park court on Nov. 22. "We intend to fight these charges vigorously and we'll see everybody in court," defence lawyer Marlys Edwardh said. "They're calm ... and ready to take on their defence," said Liz McIntyre, another member of the defence team. The charges stem from a death at the Hospital for Sick Children on Oct. 22, 1998. Shore was admitted that day for complications from a broken leg, which she'd broken six months earlier. She was still experiencing pain. She died about six hours later from respiratory and heart failure. The Shore family launched a civil suit, which was resolved in 1999. Last year, a coroner's inquest returned a verdict of homicide. But the Shores still don't have all the answers about how their daughter died, family lawyer Frank Gomberg said. "Anyone who was at the inquest knows there were some very, very strange things going on that night," he said. Gomberg scoffed at the suggestion that the scheduled disciplinary hearing for the nurses at the College was the proper venue to examine Shore's death. "Criminal behaviour has to be dealt with in the courts," he said. "Professional misconduct issues are dealt with by professional regulatory bodies. 'FAILURES IN THE CARE' "If I as a lawyer walk into an LCBO with a gun and rob the place, that will get me into trouble with the law society ... but that doesn't mean the criminal courts won't deal with it." The Hospital for Sick Children, which apologized to the Shore family during the inquest and paid an undisclosed sum to settle the civil suit, also released a statement yesterday from president Michael Strofolino. "The hospital has publicly acknowledged that there were failures in the care provided to Lisa Shore and for these the hospital is deeply regretful," Strofolino said. "Regrettably, human error occurred." This site is updated by 5:30 a.m. ET each day and includes stories and columns from the day's print edition of the Sun. Use these links to find the Sun stories you are looking for. For updated news, sports, business and entertainment updates around the clock, we invite you to use the links from our CANOE network. |