Quebec’s chief coroner on Tuesday ordered a public inquiry into the death of Amélie Champagne, a young girl diagnosed with Lyme disease who took her own life.
• Read also: Overwhelmed by Lyme disease, the daughter of the President of the Jean Coutu Group takes her own life
The death of the 22-year-old woman, on September 11, was widely publicized after the announcement of her father and president of the Jean Coutu Group, Alain Champagne, in a publication on LinkedIn.
In his message, Mr. Champagne lamented that his daughter had gone through “years of medical wandering in Quebec”, to finally obtain a test whose result was positive for Lyme disease in 2022, in the United States.
Screenshot TVA News
The girl had been hospitalized for a first suicide attempt and had finally been sent home. “You’re handing my daughter over to me in a state that’s probably worse than when she came home, she’s being talked to constantly, she’s not sleeping, she’s probably more exhausted than when she came home. As for me, if you give it to me like that, you risk having a death on your conscience, ”said Mr. Champagne in an interview with TVA Nouvelles.
Amélie Champagne was stabilized and did not represent a danger to herself, according to hospital staff, which justified her return home, her father explained.
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Mr. Champagne also deplored the lack of psychiatric care. “Psychological distress support was absent and it’s not fair that it was absent, my daughter was rejected from the system,” he said.
“That’s why I should never have attended my daughter’s funeral this weekend,” he added.
Dr. Olivier Farmer, psychiatrist and spokesperson for psychiatrists in Quebec, believes that the problem comes from the lack of solutions. “What strikes me is that it seems that clinicians in psychiatry […] ran out of options,” he explained in an interview with TVA Nouvelles. According to him, the hospital should not be the only possibility, for example follow-up in the communities, at home.
The psychiatrist also thinks that sending the young girl back to the Montreal hospital should not have happened. “It is unacceptable, the law provides that people can be treated in the place of their choice […] and we have to stop being in this logic of postal codes, ”he insisted.
“Our responsibility as caregivers is to start care, at least to do the first stages of care and then to be able to plan things based on proximity,” he added.
Amélie Champagne had been sent back to the Montreal hospital on the grounds that her postal code was not the right one to be treated in Sherbrooke.
The inquest by the Chief Coroner of Quebec, Me Pascale Descary, will attempt to shed light on the cause and circumstances of the girl’s death. Hearings will be held to hear from anyone who may have information regarding the circumstances of the death.
Me Pascale Descary appointed Me Julie-Kim Godin to preside over this investigation. The latter will be assisted by a prosecutor.
IF YOU NEED HELP
Quebec suicide prevention line
• www.aqps.info
• 1 866 CALL (277-3553)
Kids Help Phone
• www.jeunessejecoute.ca
• 1 800 668-6868
Tel-young
• www.teljeunes.com
• 1 800 263-2266