Mother of Manitoba woman who died in failed ICU transfer suing province over 'preventable' death

The mother of a 31-year-old Manitoba woman who died while waiting to be transferred to an Ontario hospital in 2021 is suing all those involved in the decision to move her out of province in order to make room for more critically ill COVID-19 patients.

In a statement of claim filed in Manitoba Court of King's Bench on March 7, Elaine Mousseau claims a sequence of bad planning and decisions and a lack of the necessary medical equipment and properly trained staff caused the death of her daughter, Krystal Mousseau.

On May 24, 2021, during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mantioba, the decision was made to airlift Krystal, then in stable condition, from the Brandon Regional Health Centre, in that southwestern Manitoba city, to Ottawa General Hospital.

Elaine Mousseau is suing the Government of Manitoba and Shared Health, the provincial organization that oversees the delivery of health care in Manitoba.

Her lawsuit also names the Prairie Mountain Health Authority, which includes the city of Brandon, the Brandon Regional Health Centre, Keewatin Air, an unidentified ICU nurse and two unidentified Keewatin Air employees who were sent as a medical team to transfer Krystal using ground and air ambulance.

"The conduct of the government and Shared Health was careless, callous, [and] reckless with full knowledge that Krystal's death was entirely avoidable," the statement of claim says.

In an interview with CBC News, the family's lawyer, Brian Meronek, said he got access to Krystal's medical records and the province's critical incident report to understand what happened in her case.

"Some would say it's a perfect storm. I don't call it a perfect storm. I call it a litany of preventable errors," Meronek said.

"She was in stable condition in ICU and by moving her, you had enhanced the risk of some catastrophe happening. And it certainly happened by virtue of the mishandling of her when she left," he said.

"She wasn't being moved to improve her health. She was being moved for the benefit of others."

According to the lawsuit, Krystal, 31, was healthy, other than having asthma, when she went to a hospital in Ste. Rose du Lac — about 150 kilometres northeast of Brandon — in mid-May 2021 and was diagnosed with COVID-19. She required oxygen, so she was taken to the hospital in Brandon by ambulance. 

As her condition worsened, she was sent to the intensive care unit and put on a ventilator. She was also given drugs to induce a coma, according to the lawsuit.

The court document says Shared Health made arrangements for Keewatin Air to provide the aircraft, crew and medical staff to take her to Ottawa.

Elaine Mousseau has previously said she objected to her daughter's transfer and said she wanted to discuss with the family before giving her consent. She claims that consent was never given.