N.S. doctor denies alleged negligence in case of woman who died after long ER wait
Global News
Allison Holthoff died at the Cumberland Regional Health Centre in Amherst, N.S., due to complications associated with an untreated splenic aneurysm.
A doctor named in a lawsuit after a Nova Scotia woman died in hospital following a long wait to see a physician has denied allegations from the family that he failed in his duties.
Allison Holthoff died at the Cumberland Regional Health Centre in Amherst, N.S., due to complications associated with an untreated splenic aneurysm, according to a statement of claim filed Feb. 22 on behalf of Holthoff’s three children and her husband.
The family has alleged in their lawsuit that medical staff failed to assess Holthoff’s condition or take her vitals on multiple occasions over the course of her hospital visit on Dec. 31, 2022, as her condition rapidly deteriorated.
In his notice of defence filed Thursday, Dr. John Atia said he wasn’t negligent in his treatment of Holthoff, denied he “failed to respond to pleas of nursing staff,” and said he worked “in a consummately professional manner.”
The lawsuit was launched by the family in Nova Scotia Supreme Court against Nova Scotia Health and Atia, the attending ER physician when Holthoff arrived.
The doctor’s statement said when Holthoff first was triaged by ER staff at 11:14 a.m., she had abdominal pain that was being felt in her chest as she breathed, but “her vital signs were all within normal ranges.”
Atia says at 11:45 a.m., as he was attending other patients, he ordered blood work, an electrocardiogram and urine analysis for Holthoff and “it turned out the test results were normal.”
The woman’s husband, Gunter Holthoff, has said he took his wife to the hospital when she collapsed in extreme pain after complaining of an upset stomach at their home near Amherst.
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