A Cree man has filed a lawsuit towards two Manitoba well being authorities alleging he didn’t obtain well timed medical care and was accused of nursing a hangover.
Justin Flett spent days in a number of hospitals and travelled greater than 600 kilometres to get handled for acute appendicitis in January 2023.
Flett filed a lawsuit final month within the Manitoba Courtroom of King’s Bench towards a number of well being authorities and the doctor who initially handled him, saying his pleas of extreme belly ache have been ignored.
“They left him to endure in agony, and denied or delayed the pressing care, evaluation and therapy that he required,” the assertion of declare alleges.
“In consequence, his appendix ruptured, an aggressive an infection unfold inside his stomach and his life was unnecessarily positioned in peril. He now suffers severe ongoing issues and accidents because of this.”
The allegations haven’t been examined in court docket.
Statements of defence have but to be filed. Each well being authorities declined to remark as a result of the matter is earlier than the courts. The northern well being authority mentioned it will not verify whether or not the physician remains to be employed on the hospital.
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Flett, 46, is a Cree father of six from the Tataskweyak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. He lives in Winnipeg however on the time of the occasions was visiting his aged mom in The Pas.
On the night of Jan. 14, 2023, Flett skilled a sudden onset of sharp belly ache and nausea, mentioned the assertion of declare. He went to the emergency room at St. Anthony’s Normal Hospital early the following morning after the ache worsened via the night time.
Regardless of telling the triage nurse he couldn’t sit, stand or transfer round, Flett was assigned as a non-urgent, low-priority case and was given anti-nausea medicine, the swimsuit claims.
When he was lastly seen, he informed the physician he was in extreme ache.
“(The physician) evenly pressed on the world the place Mr. Flett mentioned he was feeling ache and acknowledged, ‘I don’t know what to let you know, we don’t deal with you right here for hangovers,’ or phrases to that impact,” the lawsuit alleges.
Flett informed the physician he wasn’t hung over.
It mentioned the physician didn’t conduct additional examinations or exams and claimed the physician didn’t take the complaints severely as a result of he “falsely assumed that (Flett’s) accidents have been as a result of having been intoxicated.”
Flett was discharged and booked a bus ticket to Winnipeg to attempt to obtain assist elsewhere. The declare mentioned he spent almost 12 hours mendacity in ache on the ground behind the bus.
When he arrived in Winnipeg, he referred to as an ambulance however was informed by 911 operators that it will take too lengthy and ended up taking a taxi to Seven Oaks Normal Hospital. There, Flett was triaged and informed to attend till he managed to flag down a health care provider, who confirmed Flett was affected by acute appendicitis and would require instant surgical procedure.
Due to the delays, Flett’s appendix ruptured earlier than he was transferred for surgical procedure, the lawsuit alleges. It says since this occurred, Flett has been hospitalized, developed the onset of a power bowel situation, is unable to proceed his job as a building contractor, and skilled a lack of revenue and emotional misery.
First Nations leaders say they remained involved about systemic discrimination within the well being system.
“Nobody ought to need to worry for his or her life due to the color of their pores and skin or their place of residence,” mentioned Betsy Kennedy, appearing grand chief of the Meeting of Manitoba Chiefs. “Each individual deserves equitable, compassionate and well timed well being care.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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