Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 12, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A5 winnipegfreepress. com TOP NEWS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012 A 5 Psychology works for: Health Anxiety Manitoba Psychological Society Visit us at www. mps. ca 415.4335 | Stafford & Dorchester FREE PHYSICIAN CONSULTATION 3. 64" LOSE O N AV E RAGE I N 2 W E E K S FREE ZERONA TREATMENTS 2 WEEKS WITH PURCHASE OF ANY ZERONA PACKAGE WAIST . HIPS . THIGHS N o Pain . No Surgery . No Down t i me Non Invasive Laser Therapy ZERONA CANADA NOWINWINNIPEG Dr. Oz calls it the miracle procedure to fight fat! SPRING BOXING WEEK SALE F ur n i tur e F actory O utlet * % OFF 60 UP T O Wed - Fri 12 noon - 8pm Sat 9: 30am - 5pm On Until Sat June 16, 2012 * cannot be combined with any other offers * mattresses not included in this event * no price adjustments * all sales are final, sold as is 630 Kernaghan Ave Door 76 204.988.0800 * no warranties T HEY watched in horror as their mother suffered weeks of excruciating pain before her death last December. But it was a letter medical authorities sent to their mom five months after she died that motivated David and Lorraine MacKay to tell the sad story of her last days. The siblings held a press conference Monday, organized by the provincial Conservatives, at the Manitoba Legislative Building. Then they watched from the visitors' gallery as Tory health critic Myrna Driedger grilled Health Minister Theresa Oswald during question period about the handling of their mother's case by Seven Oaks General Hospital and the Health Sciences Centre pain clinic. Their mother, Frances MacKay, was already well- acquainted with hospitals due to kidney and other health problems. She travelled to Seven Oaks hospital for dialysis three times a week. But last October, she started to feel excruciating pain in her back and pelvic area. It began not long after doctors had inserted a new central line into her body that allowed her to receive dialysis. Frances complained about her pain and eventually received a referral by the hospital to the HSC pain clinic. By Nov. 22, though, after a second central line had been inserted because the first had blocked, her son David took her to Seven Oaks emergency because of unbearable pain. " When I drove her to the hospital that day, she was just screaming the whole way," he said Monday. The ER doctor gave her morphine and sent her home after her vital signs, including blood pressure, had stabilized. When David asked the hospital what would be done to find the cause of his mom's pain, he said the ER doctor replied: " That's not our job here. Our job is to stabilize the patient and then release them." A week later, Lorraine decided to drive her mom to St. Boniface General Hospital. " Literally every breath out of her mouth was a moan," Lorraine said. St. Boniface admitted her and did a CT scan and blood tests. Doctors discovered Frances had a severe infection in her lower spine, but by then it was too late to save her. She died in that hospital on Dec. 15 at age 71. The " final insult" came five months later, the family said. The HSC pain clinic mailed the deceased woman a letter asking her to complete an enclosed questionnaire. She was instructed that once it was filled out and the clinic gathered any other information it needed, she would be contacted for an appointment. " That's when the irony of this just hit home" and the family decided to speak out, David said Monday. " People needed to know that suffering in silence is not going to help. No family should have to suffer like our family had to suffer." Asked for comment on Monday, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority issued a statement extending its sincere regrets to the family. It also vowed to " thoroughly investigate this case" and inform the family of its findings. Outside the house, Oswald said she was " keenly interested" in getting to the bottom of the matter. " A family that is facing the loss of a loved one in circumstances where they believe the health- care system wasn't as responsive as they need it to be is very concerning to me," she said. Oswald also said she was unaware of long waits at HSC's pain clinic. She said anyone in urgent need should be admitted quickly. " We know they're getting in right away when they need to," she told reporters. larry. kusch@ freepress. mb. ca THE deaths of two young Winnipeg women - and the actions of the 17- year- old driver who allegedly killed them - are the focus of a high- profile court case that began Monday. A week- long preliminary hearing is underway for the teen, who can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. She has pleaded not guilty to a series of charges including impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm. Senhit Mehari, 19, and Amutha Subramaniam, 17, suffered fatal injuries in the October 2010 crash as they drove home from a Halloween party. The girls, along with three friends, were riding in a Pontiac Sunfire south on St. Mary's Road when a westbound Chevrolet Cavalier slammed into the driver's side at the intersection of Bishop Grandin Boulevard. Police said at the time it appeared the Cavalier ran a red light and the young female driver had been drinking. Speed may also have been a factor. The preliminary hearing will determine if there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial. A courtordered ban prevents specific evidence presented at the hearing from being published at this time. Mehari and Subramaniam were graduates of Dakota Collegiate who were studying business administration at the University of Manitoba. THE school trustee charged with trying to lure children for sexual acts over the Internet has resigned, the Prairie Spirit school board said Monday. Norbert Van Deynze, 59, who served as a school trustee for the Prairie Spirit School Division for 16 years, resigned on Friday, the board said. Superintendent Don Hurton said the RCMP have contacted the division about one of two computers seized in the investigation - a laptop that belonged to the board. It's unknown if anything was found on that laptop. The accused, who lived in Somerset about an hour southwest of Winnipeg, was arrested on June 5. He is charged with four counts of luring to commit invitation to sexual touching and three counts of committing sexual interference. Pain clinic's slow response angers family Province vows to probe case By Larry Kusch Preliminary hearing for fatal crash Trustee resigns amid charges JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS David MacKay and his sister Lorraine at the Manitoba legislature ( above) after a press conference about their mother, Frances MacKay ( below). HANDOUT A_ 05_ Jun- 12- 12_ FP_ 01. indd A5 6/ 11/ 12 11: 03: 41 PM ;