For the second time in a month, Abbotsford Regional Hospital is facing tough questions for discharging a patient who died shortly after being sent away.
The latest incident to come to light involves a 56-year-old woman, Mary Louise Murphy, who checked into the hospital's emergency ward overnight on Jan. 30 because she was in pain.
Her adoptive son, Andrew Grimeau, said his mother waited hours before finally seeing a doctor, then was given a shot of morphine for her muscle spasms and sent home.
Within a day of leaving the hospital, Murphy was dead.
"I saw her hours before she passed away," Grimeau said. "I feel lost. I'm in this world without a lady I would call mom."
Her son fears Murphy was let down by the medical system.
"When symptoms and everything started to get worse… did she have anywhere to call? I don't feel so," Grimeau said.
The questions about Murphy's care come as the Fraser Health Authority and B.C. Coroners Service investigate a similar-sounding incident involving a three-year-old girl.
Nimrat Gill's family checked her into hospital on Feb. 6, only to be told to take the little girl home and treat her with over-the-counter painkillers.
They brought her back the next day after her condition worsened, and she died shortly after in hospital. Tests have since confirmed she was suffering from pneumonia, according to the family.
"What I'm hoping is that these are two very isolated incidents that happen to be temporally related," said Dr. Roy Morton, vice-president of medicine for Fraser Health. "That's what our further investigation will try to sort through to determine."
Morton told CTV News the information he’s received is that Murphy was pain-free when she was discharged from hospital.
The health authority is not currently investigating Murphy’s case, however. Officials said they only learned of her death from the coroner this week, and a probe could still be launched.
The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating both incidents. The agency said it's intention is not to find fault, but to come up with recommendations aimed at helping prevent future deaths in similar circumstances.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Scott Hurst
