(Montreal) The inability of the Quebec government to deploy its pandemic response plan, when the new coronavirus had begun to circulate elsewhere in the world in early 2020, led to avoidable deaths in long-term care establishments duration, a Montreal lawyer argued Monday.
Patrick Martin-Ménard asked a judge to authorize a class action against the provincial government on behalf of all residents of public long-term care homes who experienced COVID-19 outbreaks during the first two waves of the pandemic, and on behalf of the families of those who died.
By failing to implement an already existing action plan at the beginning of January 2020, the Quebec government and its health authorities failed in their duty of care towards residents, said Ms.e Martin-Ménard before the Superior Court of Quebec.
“The pandemic plan was adopted in 2006. It already gave a good idea of what should be done in the event of a biological threat to protect vulnerable people,” said Mr.e Martin-Ménard to journalists Monday.
“What we are claiming here is that if this plan had been put in place, as it should have been in January 2020, establishments would have had time to prepare for the pandemic and prepare vulnerable clients” , added the lawyer.
On the contrary, he argued, the management of the pandemic “gave rise to a lot of improvisation, decisions made in a hurry and negligent management, overall” of the situation.
More than 5,000 people died in Quebec long-term care centers during the period covered by the proposed lawsuit, between March 2020 and March 2021.
Late answer
Quebec’s pandemic response plan, declared Me Martin-Ménard, asks the government to issue a pre-pandemic alert to health establishments when it is confirmed that a new virus is spreading from animals to humans. This fact was known as early as January 6, 2020 for COVID-19, but the province did not issue an alert, lamented the lawyer.
The government only began officially preparing for the arrival of the pandemic at the end of February, two days before the first cases were detected in the province. Additionally, the plan calls on Quebec to implement infection prevention and control measures and identify the most vulnerable residents.
Quebec’s first directives regarding the health system made no reference to long-term care centers and vulnerable people, M reportede Martin-Ménard.
No specific plans were communicated to the health system regarding protecting long-term care centers until the end of March, he added. This delay caused Quebec to miss its preparation window, which had disastrous consequences.
“Once again we see that what was foreseen in the plan has not been implemented,” he told the court.
Avoidable deaths
Instead of putting the existing plan in place, he said, the government improvised, moving patients from hospitals to long-term care centers in an effort to free up hospital beds.
These long-term care centers were unprepared to accommodate additional patients and could not properly care for residents after the government banned visits from family caregivers, Ms.e Martin-Ménard.
In one case, he said, a woman who depended on visits from her daughter to help her eat died shortly after such visits were banned.
The government has limited the ability of long-term care patients to go to hospital if they have COVID-19, but the province has not considered whether long-term care centers have the ability to treat these patients, argued the lawyer.
“All of this has had very significant consequences, not only for the people who contracted COVID-19, but also for those who were hit hard by the deprivation of care they suffered as a result,” said Martin- Ménard to journalists.
Jean-Pierre Daubois, main plaintiff in the class action, said his mother suffered from a lack of care. Anna José Maquet, 94, died at CHSLD Ste-Dorothée, in Laval, in April 2020.
Even if Mme Maquet suffered from an age-related eye disorder and needed help getting around, she was otherwise in good health, he said. Mr Daubois said his mother choked on drinking water and after three hours she was put into a respiratory distress protocol, which he said led to her death.
According to the prosecution, at the time of M’s deathme Maquet, she was under the care of a candidate nurse who was not yet licensed and who allegedly provided treatments that she was not qualified to administer.
“We want the Quebec government to be held responsible for this lack of preparation,” Mr. Daubois told reporters at the Montreal courthouse. There was serious incompetence on their part, we want that to change. »
Me Martin-Ménard said the class action could include more than 10,000 people. The compensation sought will depend on the number of members identified, he said, adding that it could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Lawyers for the Quebec government declined to comment on the case on Monday. Lawyers for Quebec health establishments are due to argue Thursday, and lawyers for the province’s attorney general are due to do the same on Friday.