Death of woman after 7-hour ER wait ‘not caused by negligence,’ N.S. health authority says
Global News
The Nova Scotia Health Authority is requesting that a lawsuit over Allison Holthoff's death be dismissed, saying her death was not due to negligence on its part.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority is requesting that a lawsuit over the death of a patient late last year be dismissed, saying her death was not due to negligence on its part.
The family of Allison Holthoff filed the civil lawsuit last month, alleging the health authority was negligent in failing to meet standards of care.
It also names the attending emergency room physician as a defendant.
Holthoff, a 37-year-old mother of three, died at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre emergency room on New Year’s Eve following a seven-hour wait for care.
The lawsuit said she reported “extreme pain in the upper left side of her abdomen, laboured breathing and nausea” and died from an untreated splenic artery aneurysm.
It claimed her husband, Gunter, repeatedly raised concerns about Holthoff’s condition but she remained “largely unattended.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified special, pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages. The allegations have not been proven in court.
According to a notice of defence filed Feb. 28, the Nova Scotia Health Authority said any injury, loss or damage sustained by the plaintiff “was not caused by negligence” on the part of the health authority, or anyone for whom they are responsible.