Family of Halifax area teen who died of meningitis deserves answers: minister
Nova Scotia's health minister says the Halifax-area family of a 19-year-old who recently died of meningitis has a right to answers about the treatment their son received from the health system.
Zach Churchill says the case of Kai Matthews, who died in hospital of the bacterial infection on June 1, is "every family's worst nightmare."
Churchill told reporters after a cabinet meeting today that Nova Scotia's health authority and the province's ambulance service will be conducting reviews into clinical decisions involved in the case.
Local media outlets have reported that Matthews, who had just finished his first year at Acadia University, developed a high fever and chills on May 30.
His family has said that they took him to a Halifax hospital's emergency room where he was given a COVID-19 test, had blood work done and was discharged to await test results the next morning.
He was taken to hospital in great pain the next day but was being discharged again when his parents noticed a purple rash that was later found to be meningitis, CBC reported.
Before Matthews was taken to hospital for the second time, his family has said that paramedics called to their home didn't find anything that needed immediate attention and said the teen couldn't be taken to hospital until he had a negative COVID-19 test.
Churchill said both reviews will deal directly with the family.
The minister wouldn't speculate on whether the death was directly linked to current COVID-19 protocols in the medical system.
"We have to allow the reviews to take place to give us scope on that," Churchill said. "I'm not aware of any other situations like this one."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Nine suspects arrested in $24M gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport: Peel police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.
500 Newfoundlanders wound up on the same cruise and it turned into a rocking kitchen party
A Celebrity Apex cruise to the Caribbean this month turned into a rocking Newfoundland kitchen party when hundreds of people from Canada's easternmost province happened to be booked on the same ship.
Liberals must now sell a budget they say will help younger Canadians catch up
It's now up to the federal Liberal government to sell a spending plan it says will help younger Canadians catch up to their elders.
Ontario woman out $30K after investing in mortgage company accused of being unlicensed
An Ontario nurse is fighting to recover tens of thousands of dollars in savings she invested in a mortgage company that has since been accused of operating without a licence.
Canada is expected to win 22 medals at the Paris Olympics
Canada is expected to win a total of 22 medals, including six gold, at the Paris Summer Olympics, which open on July 26.