The Dr Brian Nadler, the doctor from Dollard-des-Ormeaux who was accused of causing the deaths of four patients at the Hawkesbury General Hospital, was acquitted on Tuesday of all charges against him.
“You are innocent.[…]| You are free to go,” said Magistrate Kevin Phillips, a judge of the Superior Court of Ontario, on Tuesday morning during a hearing held in the federal capital, according to comments first reported by the local media[…|Vousêteslibredepartir »alaissétomberlemagistratKevinPhillipsunjugedelaCoursupérieuredel’Ontarioenmatinéemardilorsd’uneaudiencequisetenaitdanslacapitalefédéraleselondesproposd’abordrapportésparlemédialocalOttawa Citizen.
Such an outcome seemed telegraphed for several days in this case, the Crown, represented by prosecutor Robin Flumerfelt, having suggested last week that too much important evidence had been deemed inadmissible and excluded from the trial.
No formal evidence was presented on Tuesday at the opening of the trial, which was originally scheduled to last nearly a month and a half. The prosecution nevertheless retained its right to appeal, or even request a new trial, but has not made any further comments for the moment.
It all began in this case on the evening of March 25, 2021. At that time, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) had been called to the Hawkesbury General Hospital (HGH), a few kilometres from the Quebec border, in connection with a suspicious death.
Less than 24 hours later, the establishment was able to confirm the arrest of doctor Brian Nadler, then 35 years old, causing shockwaves throughout Quebec and Ontario, particularly in the medical community.
Nadler was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Albert Poidinger, an 89-year-old Pointe-Claire man, at Hawkesbury General Hospital in Ontario. Medication used to treat COVID-19 patients was part of the investigation.
A few months later, in August 2022, three new murder charges were subsequently filed against the doctor. This time, they were related to the deaths of Claire Brière, an 80-year-old woman from Rigaud, Lorraine Lalande, a 79-year-old woman from Hawkesbury, and Judith Lungulescu, 93, also born in the Hawkesbury region.
Brian Nadler’s attorney, Brian Greenspan, argued in several media outlets on Tuesday that these “four deaths are the tragic result of the spread of the COVID-19 virus,” a reality as “tragic as the specter of suspicion that taints Nadler’s life and reputation.”r Nadler for three years,” he added.
“There is no doubt. The care administered by Dr.r Nadler did not cause the deaths of the patients,” Mr.e Greenspan. The main person concerned did not wish to answer questions from journalists on site.
It is not yet clear whether the doctor will ever return to practice. At the time of his indictment, Mr. Nadler’s licence had been suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, but the defence has not yet indicated whether he will reapply for it.