The request to initiate a class action on behalf of people who died in certain CHSLDs in Quebec during the COVID-19 pandemic has just been authorized in a Superior Court judgment.
In a judgment made public on Tuesday, the Court authorizes the exercise of collective action for residents of public CHSLDs who experienced a “major outbreak” between March 13, 2020 and March 20, 2021. Relatives are also included in the action . In its judgment, the court defines the term “major outbreak” as any establishment having had more than 25% infection rate.
Around 118 CHSLDs were in this situation during the first two waves of the pandemic in Quebec according to lawyer Patrick-Martin Ménard, who represents Jean-Pierre Daubois, the plaintiff in this case.
Mr. Daubois’ mother, Anna-José Maquet, died at the CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée in Laval on April 3, 2020, at the age of 94. The establishment was then affected by a major outbreak of COVID-19.
Mr. Daubois pleads that his mother died after choking on a glass of water, among other things “due to directives limiting care, and in particular the respiratory assistance that can be provided to patients in respiratory distress in CHSLDs” during the pandemic. Like many CHSLDs in Quebec, protective equipment was poorly available, staff were few and overworked.
The CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée, which has 193 beds, was one of the CHSLDs most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. In all, 218 residents were infected and 101 died. During the first wave of COVID-19, 5,060 CHSLD residents died across Quebec.
Lack of preparation and poor management
In his request, Mr. Daubois argued that Quebec health authorities were poorly prepared to deal with the pandemic and that they poorly managed the crisis “which resulted in all residents of public CHSLDs in the Quebec, whether or not they had COVID-19, suffered during this period consequences on their mental and physical health and on the level of care to which they should normally have been entitled.
Initially, Me Martin-Ménard pleaded for all CHSLDs that had two or more cases of COVID-19 during the first waves to be included in the appeal. The court rather defines the targeted group as being “any person who resided at any time between March 13, 2020 and March 20, 2021 in one of the public CHSLDs in Quebec in which there was an outbreak of 25% or more cases of COVID-19, as well as their spouse, their natural caregiver(s), their children and their grandchildren, as well as the heirs and beneficiaries of deceased residents.
The merits of the case will be heard in the coming months. Several questions will have to be decided, mentions the judgment. In particular, if the CISSS and CIUSSS to which the CHSLDs fall have made various mistakes in the management of the first wave. Such as not having “taken measures to prepare the CHSLDs under their responsibilities for the pandemic in January and February 2020”, “having forced symptomatic or at-risk employees to work in CHSLDs” or “having failed to protect CHSLD residents then that they were identified as early as January 2020 as part of the most vulnerable population.”
The court will also have to determine whether the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) and the national director of public health “committed mistakes” in particular by failing “to plan a supply of PPE (Editor’s note: personal protective equipment) for deal with the first wave of COVID-19 that was coming.” More details on the file will be presented Tuesday morning by Me Martin-Ménard in a press briefing.