Health system didn't take man's fatal condition seriously: family
Sisters of 33-year-old who died after seeking medical help twice seeks answers
Simon Whitehouse
Northern News Services
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The family of Noel Michael Francois is expressing hurt and shock after the 33-year-old man died of a bacterial infection last month, which they say was preventable.
Mike Pierre Francis (Francois), father of Michael Francois, holds a picture of his son this week. Francois, 33, died Nov. 14 after succumbing to streptococcus pneumoniae infection. Francois' family says he was misdiagnosed and was not treated properly while at Stanton Territorial Hospital. Francis did not comment on his son's death. - Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo |
Francois, a 33-year-old man from Yellowknife, was remembered last Thursday in a packed memorial service at St. Patrick Church. Sisters Berna Ross, of Prince Albert, Sask. and Bernice Temple, of Leduc, Alta., and Helen Minoza of Yellowknife told Yellowknifer they would just like to understand why this happened.
Ross and Temple say on Friday, Oct. 23, Francois went to Stanton Territorial Hospital not feeling well. Older sister Mary Ann went with him to the emergency room where she says a triage nurse told him to go home and rest because he wasn't that sick, Ross stated.
"When I spoke to him on the following Sunday (Oct. 25) his voice was hoarse and he was short of breath," Ross said. "I encouraged him to see somebody right away and not let it go so far if he was feeling weak or short of breath.
"I think his body ached, his throat was sore and he said he couldn't even swallow water."
Francois agreed and set up an appointment the next day at Yellowknife Primary Care Centre where he was prescribed an inhaler, they said.
The family says that if Francois got a throat swab, it was not communicated to them.
"It got worse over time and my mom called her doctor and made an appointment with her doctor for the next Thursday (Oct. 29)," Ross said.
By Thursday, however, Minoza said he looked very sick and "lethargic" and rather than attending the appointment, his family took him to the emergency room. By 9 p.m. Thursday his condition declined to the point where he was unresponsive and medical staff made plans to medevac him to the University of Alberta hospital early Friday morning, according to his sisters. It was there that he was diagnosed with a double pneumonia, which led to bacteria infecting his vital organs. Doctors in Edmonton found that a bacteria called streptococcus pneumoniae caused the double pneumonia.
Temple was by Francois' bedside by Friday (Oct. 30) afternoon as were members of their family and a close friend over the next two weeks. Francois was kept in the general intensive care unit for a day and soon admitted into the cardiovascular intensive care unit where he was put on a heart and lung machine to keep him on life support. By Nov. 13, cysts were found on his lungs and although there was consideration made for surgery, his condition declined into the next day when he died.
Other media outlets have reported, and Minoza stated, that University of Alberta doctors were "disappointed" that Yellowknife medical staff didn't diagnose Francois. Ross said this wasn't exactly the case. "Bernice was there and with him and they didn't express they were shocked but said they sympathized with our situation and would do everything they could for Michael," she said.
Ross said the family intends to file a complaint against the Stanton Territorial Health Authority, but hasn't yet.
"Right now I guess we are just not there because we are still grieving the loss of our brother," said Ross. "But we are wanting answers of just how this happened and why the health-care system didn't take his condition seriously. We want to know why he was turned away and we want answers as to why the nurse was able to turn him away."
Dr. Andre Corriveau, NWT chief public health officer, said he is aware of the situation but could not speak specifically to individual cases. He said that the biggest challenge is diagnosing the condition, which can can affect people with weaker immune systems.
"Making the diagnosis is the difficult part," he said. "You have an illness that starts as a viral illness in the upper respiratory track but can get complicated with pneumonia and then pneumonia can become bacterial fairly quickly, especially if a person has other health problems."
Francois' sisters said they weren't aware of any preexisting medical conditions their brother had.
A Yellowknife physician who was not connected with Francois and asked to remain anonymous said when any unexpected death occurs, it is reasonable to ask for a review at Stanton to ensure the patient was properly assessed. However because the streptococcus pneumoniae micro-organism does not cause fatal infections until it reaches the bloodstream, it is possible that medical staff could have treated Francois perfectly before the bacterium reached his internal organs.
"There are times when people present and they don't look too bad at triage in emergency," the doctor said.
Francois, as the youngest and only son of the Francois family, grew up in Yellowknife and had plans to become a mechanical engineer at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
He also leaves behind two sons of his own, Isaiah, 9, and Hayden, 7, both of whom live in Edmonton.
Ross and Temple said they will most miss his spirit as "a sweet young man" who warmly expressed his love to his sisters, even when they moved away from the city.
"We recently moved last year, but whenever we visited, he always gave us big bear hugs and wouldn't let us leave without giving us his bear hugs," Ross said through tears. "We will miss that."
