A Vancouver Coastal Health review has exonerated hospital workers who treated a Richmond asthmatic woman twice -- without diagnosing the H1N1 flu virus that killed her.
On Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, Mae Mah was admitted to Richmond General Hospital with symptoms including breathing trouble, fever and sinus congestion.
She was treated and sent home on both occasions. But hours after returning home on Nov. 1, Mah went into cardiac arrest and died.
Mah's family believes the hospital may have been negligent in the way it treated her, but an initial review conducted by Coastal Health suggests hospital staff followed protocol.
"What we're looking for is any errors, any negligence that may have occurred, any misdiagnosis," Coastal Health representative Clay Adams said.
"Clearly what we're finding right now is that none of that appears to have occurred."
Health authorities say H1N1 is difficult to diagnose in asthmatics, whose symptoms can wax and wane unexpectedly.
But Mah's fianc�e Dave Palen is not satisfied.
"This shouldn't be allowed to happen. People shouldn't be sent home to die," Palen said.
"What is the value of human life? It's got to be more than that. Just process it as that and throw them back on the streets."
Mah's family will meet with Coastal Health formally before the final review is complete.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger
