Plz. urgent advice needed, below my letter to an official
which explains a little bit a situation. I substituted the
name of my daughter by *****. She is pretty scared after the
talk with social workers from the Children Aid. The worker
told her openly we take you from your parents and remove
your gallbladder againist your and our wish. Who has the
experience with all this stuff, any advice is welcomed- my
daughter is pretty scared,she can end up as a disabled
person as a result of this messy situation.
=====================
3.04.2004
Dear Sir/Madam, I believe my daughter ******** *******is
facing now discrimination from representatives of Childrens
Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) which I believe can be
considered as an attempt of
I. unusual cruel treatment which is possibly based on:
II. her religious and national background As a result I
believe her health could be in danger as a result of
this situation. Please, undertake nessessary
investigations and steps to help us.
In more detailes I. unusual cruel treatment: We believe that
the patients rights of our daugter ********* **********were
violated during her treatment at CHEO last year. We made a
formal complaint to The College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Ontario (please see below some relevant materials).
As you can see even from the text below ******** received
different discrepant diagnoses during her 2 years treatment
at CHEO. One of her last diagnoses sounded as inflamation of
her gallbladder as a result of calculi in her gallbladder.
This type of health problem has different types of possible
treatment which include- a)surgical removal of the
gallbladder itself,
b)surgical removal of the calculi from the gallbladder,
c)spliiting the calculi by ultrasound, d)chemical
dissolving of the calculi. During our talks with surgeon
Dr.Cheo and Dr.Mack we indicated that we are strongly
opposed to the a) way of treatment because every operation
has a risk of death for ********* and also removal of a
vital organ can result in negative health consequences for
our daughter.
As we understood from the talk with Dr.Cheo, other
representatives of the CHEO and from medical literature this
type of sickness has no direct danger for health of a
patient actually the patient can live all life with stones
in gallbladder, sometimes the stones can dissolve itself. As
a result during November 2003- January 2004 **********'s
case was not considered as urgent by CHEO we were fighting
that period of time just for appointment with
gastroenterologist. All CHEO representatives told us that
our case is totally non-urgent(letter from CHEO) in the case
of pain we should just go to the emergency department of the
CHEO. During our second last appointment with Dr.Mack we
clearly indicated that we were choosing non-surgical way of
******** treatment (i.e. chemical stones dissolving).
ba.Mack agreed with us but told that only small gallstones
(diameter less 1cm) can be chemically dissolved and sent
******** to ultrasound to determine the size of the
gallstones (statement signed by me and a representative
of CHEO). The team of the doctors who performed
ultrasound told that ******** had not formed, "ghosty"
formation in her gallbladder which was not solid (no
traces of calcium- no shadows on ultrasound pictures).
The size of the gallbladder formation were less than 4mm
which made for example chemical dissolving treatment
possible. But in the letter from hospital with the
results of ultrasound the size of the calculi was not
even mentioned.
Later in March 2004 Den Teneycke tel (613)7477800 ext 2137
from Childrens Aid of Ontario contacted my daugter, my son
and my wife and informed them that
bb.Mack had written a letter with indication that the
operation of gallbladder is necessary for ******** and
their father (me) has problems problems with his
"attitude" that can damage ******** health. During an
interview with ******** he told her that she also has the
same "attitude" problems similar to her father
(bc) and that she must change herself as soon as possible.
Actually these types of humilating remarks deeply
offended my daughter. She concidered herself as a
bright individuals withing decent family of high
educated canadians without any types of negative
records in the past. Also Mr.Teneycke informed my
family that the Aid has power to take her from the
parents (us) by force and to make the surgical removal
of her gallbladder againist our will. In his letter he
indicated that our case now under investigation by the
Aid and we (my wife me) are concidered as parents who
does not want or are not able to provide necessary
treatment for our daughter. I believe that the actions
of CHEO representatives can be concidered as an attempt
of unusually cruel treatment. In the situation of
multiply diagnoses for ******** our complaint,
different possible treatment for ******** the
representatives of CHEO (i.e.Dr.Mack, Dr.Cheo) created
the artificial situation when theoretically the
situation that the worst and most cruel treatment will
be applied for ******* and will make her handicaped for
the rest of her life is possible.
In more detailes I believe ********* human rights can be
violated as a result of
II. her religious and national background.
I.e.during our second last appointment with Dr.Mack he asked
about our nationality and religion. I told him that we
are proud to be canadian though originally we were from
the Ukraine and belong to christian orthodox church. Dr.
Mack in presence of my wife, my daughter, and a nurse
told us that it is will be very "hard for us here"
though "********accent is almost unnoticable", and "my
accent can be understood" and that we must move away
from Ottawa, somwhere to other places "like Toronto,
Quebec or somwhere where there are a lot of ukrainians
like you" to "look for a treatment there". He also
recommended may be even to move back to the Ukraine and
look for a treatment there if we "do not like canadian
treatment". Actually during last appointment in January
2004 the situation went totally wrong almost out of
control when he hit a few times the table with brutal
force using hardcopy of ******* medical records and
shouted in my face a humilating remark about my mental
capabilities.
Sincerely,
==========================
The Children's Aid Society of Ottawa March 25
............. As we discussed with you .... during our
telephone conversation on March 23, 2004, the Children's Aid
Society of Ottawa is investigating a concern regarding your
daughter ******* health. The Child and Family Services Act
of Ontario section 37(2)e states that a child is in a need
of protection where "the child requires medical treatment to
cure, prevent or alleviate physical harm or suffering and
the child's parent or the person having care of the child
does not provide, or refuses or is unavailable to consent
to, the tretment".
The information of CAS has received from Dr.David Mack of
the Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), indicates
that ***** requires surgery to remove her gallbladder.
During our telephone conversation, you indicates that you
have sought a second or alternate medical opinion which
differs from this assessment. The Children Aid Society has
an obligation to verify this information.
During our telephone conversation I asked for the name of
the doctor who provided the second opinion of *******
condition and recommended tretment. At that time you refused
to provide me with this name. I am writing to you to again
ask for the name of this doctor and to request that you sign
a consent to disclose information for him/her (as enclosed)
to verify this information. If you have any question about
this request or the consent, please contact me at the number
below and I will be pleased to discuss it with you. Please,
sign this consent and return it to the society by April 2,
2004. If you refuse to comply with this request, the CAS
pursue a court order to compel you to do so.
Sincerely,
Dean Teneycke B.S.W. Child Protection Social Worker
Childrens Aid Society of Ottawa
--------------------------------------
April 20, 2004
...........
I am writing to advise you that I have received additional
information from Dr.Mack of the Childrens Hospital of
Eastern Ontario. I had requested further clarification from
him regarding the risk that ******* condition presents to
her as well as his recommendation for further assessment. I
received a letter dated April 7th, 2004 from
If.Mack which indicates that ******* current condition may
result in serious, possibly fatal complications which may
have a very sudden onset. Dr.Mack reccomendation is that
***** must be seen by pediatric surgeon for gallbladder
removal at a major pediatric care centre outside of CHEO,
such as the Hospital for sick Children in Toronto. He
recommends that this be completed within two months. I
have requested that Dr.Mack send a copy of this letter to
you and to Dr. *****.
As well I have contacted Dr.****** and the *******Medical
Centre. Although it is clear that you have been seeking
medical care for ******** at their Centre unfortunately none
of the physicians she has been seen are specialists in the
area of surgery. As a result, the recommendation of Dr.Mack
is still outstanding. It is imperative that you arrange to
have ***** seen by another pediatric surgeon for gallbladder
removal within two months. If you do not comply with this
recommendation, I will make an application to the court for
a supervision order to compel you to do so. Please contact
me by April 27th, 2004 to advise me of your decision and any
steps you have taken to address this matter.
Sincerely,
Dean Teneycke Child Protection Worker Childrens Aid Society