A former anesthesiologist accused of killing a patient claims to have simply offered him “palliative care”. According to the Crown, Isabelle Desormeau instead “euthanized” the 84-year-old man. An extraordinary trial opened this week at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.
“I met DD Desormeau [à l’hôpital]. I mentioned to him that there was an open investigation into possible active euthanasia. She told me not to worry. That we had agreed on comfort care. That she had had palliative sedation,” surgeon D testified on Tuesdayr Hubert Veilleux.
Isabelle Desormeau, a 53-year-old ex-doctor, is accused of having committed the involuntary homicide of Raymond Bissonnette, on the night of 1er November 2019, at the Cité-de-la-Santé Hospital, in Laval. According to the Crown, the accused “precipitated” the death of Mr. Bissonnette, even though he had not chosen to die that way.
“In a few words, Mr. Bissonnette was euthanized,” said Crown prosecutor Me Alexis Marcotte-Bélanger, at the start of the trial.
The patient, Raymond Bissonnette, presented himself to the hospital with stomach aches. He had to undergo emergency surgery for an “intestinal obstruction”. He had told the surgeon that he did not want to be “relentless” during the operation.
At the operating table, the surgeon notices that the patient’s small intestine is necrotic. It is no longer possible to “cure” it, believes Dr Veilleux, who therefore decides to put an end to the operation. According to him, the patient was then at the “end of life”.
“ [Cet état] leads to a request for palliative care. […] It is important that this patient does not suffer. Important that he has palliative care,” testified Dr Veilleux on Tuesday, in a cross-examination led by Me Nadine Touma.
The surgeon then telephones the patient’s niece to inform her of the situation. But she is not able to go to her uncle’s bedside in the middle of the night. The surgeon then does not know that Raymond Bissonnette has an unfit daughter.
When he returned to the operating room, Dr Veilleux informs the treating team, including the accused, that he will “close” the patient’s stomach and that the “family will not come during the night”. In cross-examination, Dr Veilleux indicates that it was his decision to no longer “move forward” with the operation and to offer “comfort care”.
According to the Crown’s theory, once the operation is completed, anesthesiologist Isabelle Desormeau removes respiratory assistance and injects the patient with a cocktail of fentanyl. Gestures which “hastened” the death of the victim, according to the Prosecution.
Dr Veilleux was not present at the time. But healthcare workers, including a nurse, witnessed the event. They then denounced their colleague.
A few days later, Dr Veilleux receives a call from two other doctors who tell him they are investigating a case of “active euthanasia”. It is in this context that Dr Veilleux came across the accused by chance between two operations and informed her of the existence of this investigation. The accused then told him that she had had “palliative sedation”.
According to Me Marcotte-Bélanger, Isabelle Desormeau “claimed to have performed palliative care”. “Two witnesses will come [le] say,” said the prosecutor, who is teaming up with Me Karine Dalphond.
The trial, scheduled for several weeks before Judge Marc-André Dagenais, continues on Wednesday.