"Truth Cannot Live on a Diet of Secrets
Withering Within Entangled Lies"
H. Michael Sweeney

Introduction

This report represents more than 4000 man hours time expended in research and private investigation into what can only be described as one of the most hideous crimes of the century perpetrated by doctors and nurses in Northeastern Ontario in order to save face.  It bespeaks of medical blunders and medical stupidity and the taking of an innocent life (the end result is a 41 year old mother of two children gone) due to medical stupidity and despicable hospital cost-containment policies.  That we are living in a disposable society, without values,  there is not a shadow of a doubt. Such are crimes as in this case ranging from criminal negligence to outright fraudulent concealment to corporate (hospital) criminal cover-up, criminal conspiracy and government acquiescence and collusion utilizing half truths, bald falsehoods and all the cloak and dagger techniques known to spies to obfuscate the truth.
 

Truth & Justice Demanded

A PHYSICIAN CANNOT ESCAPE the essential principle: Primum non nocere    "First Do No Harm". Whenever you grant immunity from fault you breed irresponsibility.  No policy change or audit will ever bring back this young mom. However, by making the doctors and nurses criminally accountable, this investigator hopes to ensure that the likelihood of a similar recurrence will not happen again.  This has nothing to do with a drug reaction per se, but rather it has everything to do with ignoring outcome to near fatal conclusions, and medical homicide.

My mission is to ultimately prove criminal negligence, together with the facts of this case, with scientific precision if need be, and to ultimately utilize the criminal justice system to the fullest to punish all those involved in Arlene Berry's death and subsequent cover-up. 

 Let it be known that I am NOT interested in their blood money.   What I want is   "JUSTICE"  for Arlene Berry,  nothing more, nothing less.

Evidence Based Medicine

The information contained herein is based on  Evidence Based Medicine research,  ie.  Evidence Based Medicine Information,  Centre for Health Evidence -- Users' Guides to Evidence-Based ...  Diagnosis by exclusion, Differential Diagnosis, and  DIAGNOSIS - computer-assisted. Evidence-based medicine is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. 

Additional reading:   the knowledge.com™ directory - Health - Medicine - Evidence ...    Evidence-Based Medicine: what it is and what it isn't      EBM Resources

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) ⁷ is a clinical discipline that has emerged in the 1990's.    It is a discipline that formalises the long-practised principle of basing clinical practice on scientific evidence.

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Research,  computer assisted,   is the collection and preservation of data to investigate or establish facts for any type of legal purpose, including the filing of criminal charges.  For each case, computer forensics can contain many different types of material and can be gathered from dozens of sources. In this case,  I rely on the  consensus ⁹ of medical opinion taken from the various leading authorities. Thus,  the  consensus  far outweighs any opinions or propositions postulated by the accused's,  or their accomplices, including the now Deputy Chief Coroner of Ontario,      Dr. Barry A. McLellan  (who is also an accused in this case),  and is therefore excluded by reason of his conflicting interest relationship  with several other of the accused's  named herein. 

Further, when a coroner's opinion¹⁰ comes into "conflict with a consensus of leading authorities", perhaps its time to question his train of reasoning, in contrast to  what is  embedded in Universal health care practices, and also submit that his long standing silence concerning the Arlene Berry death cover-up constitutes his active and ongoing concealment.

These are the facts:

In December of 1999,  Arlene Berry was sent to Timmins & District Hospital in Timmins, Ontario where she was diagnosed, according to her physician,  "with carcinoma of the left main bronchus with residual cancer of the aorta due to a complete collapse of the left lung". Her family MD,  Dr. Edward Henry  ¹¹ had misdiagnosed  her in that he had been treating her assumptively  for what he termed a "suspected bronchitis".  It took another doctor to read her X-ray chart and to order more appropriate testing before anything was done.

On or about January 12th of 2000 Arlene Berry was admitted to the Timmins & District Hospital under the care of Dr. Claudio De La Rocha  ¹²  where a left lung pneumonectomy  ¹³ was successfully performed on January 13th of 2000. Arlene Berry was a small woman with a low body weight and although she had a diminished lung capacity her right lung was seen to function quite well following surgery. She was released 5 days later. Following her return home to Kirkland Lake,  Arlene confided that the surgeon who operated on her felt that the cancerous lung "did not appear to be smoking related".

On or about March 16th of 2000 Arlene Berry returned to Timmins where she underwent follow-up study and testing at the same hospital consisting of a CT scan¹⁴, including  a  mediastinoscopy ¹⁵  with   mediastinotomy ¹⁶  as  part  of  a  perioperative ¹⁷ evaluation.  Following the testing,  Arlene had confided  "I don't have AIDS or brain tumors or anything like that, but I might have a cyst".   She also confided that she  "might have an infection".  She mumbled something about how  "some people could be carriers and not even know it".  I assumed she might be talking about hepatitis and really didn't really give it much thought because up until then I had complete faith in the healthcare providers, something I have since lost altogether.

She was then referred to the Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre situated at the Laurentian Site (41 Ramsey Lake Road), Sudbury for consideration of  radiation therapy under the care of Dr. Hugh Prichard,  ¹⁸ a  radiation oncologist¹⁹.

By the end of April of 2000 Arlene Berry had completed a 5 week postoperative course of radiation therapy.  In light of this treatment,  her condition was seen to be stable.  Postoperative testing results done on March 16th in Timmins was seen to be very encouraging  and from that treatment and testing it seems clear that Arlene Berry had every reason to expect a partial remission, or stable condition.

On May 23rd of 2000,  and on the days before,  Arlene Berry  presented to the Kirkland and District Hospital with  symptoms ²⁰    nausea, vomiting, sedation, dizziness, headache, and  "mild diffuse weakness".   NO toxicology screening was done.

In addition to the radiation therapy consisting of  nuclear medicine, ²¹ , Arlene Berry was also prescribed and given MS Contin ²² , including  STATEX  ²³   for  pain management,  both  of which are  Morphine with constipating properties. ²⁴  Because morphine may increase  biliary-tract ²⁵  pressure,  some patients with  biliary colic ²⁶  may experience worsening rather than relief of pain. Compare:  Intra-abdominal abscess ²⁷ ,   Colonic obstruction, ²⁸   and Opiod ²⁹ dependance .

Morphine has many side effects ³⁰. The most dangerous is respiratory depression ³¹.  In frail patients,  as the respiratory rate decreases,  the patient becomes increasingly sedated ³². See: Morphine Risk Groups ³³. Compare: Opioid overdose ³⁴.  See: Drug overdose   Compare: Sedation

A-5  of the record documents the presenting complaint as "headaches accompanied by severe stomache pain"  that  is  consistent  with  the  "abdominal  pain  ongoing  for  2  weeks"   for  which   she   was   prescribed       "antibiotics" ³⁵.  The RN who saw her noted that she had been taking MS Contin ²²  (morphine) for her pain   and also that she had  "stopped  taking the morphine",   noting also her past medical history consisting of "taking radiation". There is nothing on the record to suggest that this patient had been examined for her stomach pain, either for constipation ³⁶ or possible bowel blockage ³⁷ associated with the morphine. Stomach pain is also a prominent finding associated with dehydration ³⁸, including constipation.  When a Headache Isn't Just a Headache

The same record at  A-5  documents a Blood Pressure ³⁹ of 115/75 at 17:05 hours on May 23rd that by 18:45 hours had dropped to 100/50,  as evidenced at  A-21  of the record seen in the upper left hand corner, barely visible in the shaded box.

According to family,  Arlene Berry had stopped taking the morphine at home due to "increasing severity of constipation  requiring extra laxative and tap water douches to assist with stool evacuation", and also due to dizziness, ⁴⁰ marked by a sense of uneasiness progressing to unsteadiness or "lack of motor coordination" ⁴¹. Ataxia  ⁴² symptoms are similar to alcohol intoxication ⁴³  and include staggering ataxia/gait ⁴⁴ . There is also evidence of  "inappropriate behaviour" ⁴⁵  as witnessed by family and friends.

From the records it is clear that Arlene Berry had a history of  "opiate" use, including Acetaminophen ⁴⁶ (Tylenol),  among other medications as evidenced by her Rx list ⁴⁷ . There is nothing on the record to suggest that the patient was ever tested or examined for possible side effects ⁴⁸  associated with the MORPHINE ⁴⁹ she had been prescribed, such as  opioid-induced nausea and vomiting ⁵⁰ , or for possible other side effects such as associated with the withdrawal from opiates ⁵¹.  Compare Morphine Side Effects. ⁵². Many drugs and medications produce withdrawal symptoms
when their use is discontinued. 

Following her postoperative course of radiation therapy, Arlene Berry had remained quite well until about one week prior to her admission to the Kirkland and District Hospital on the 23rd of May 2000. Over that week she had developed  headaches ⁵³ that at times had become increasingly severe. A severe headache is a common but not invariable accompaniment of intracranial causes of nausea ⁵⁴. and vomiting.

According to Dr. Jordan  "she had presented to the ED (emergency department) several days before with vomiting and it was thought that she had a  "UTI",  ⁵⁵,  to rule out delay in seeking treatment.  Dr. Jordan goes on to state that "she was given antibiotics and sent home" as evidenced at  A-8  of the hospital record.  It is also clear that she was rejected for moderate dehydration due to excessive vomiting  ⁵⁶ on the days before which had been grounds for admission at that time. Compare: Urethritis

According to the record at  A-6  she returned to the ED (Emergency Department) on May 23rd of 2000 with      "the very same complaints". On examination the physician who saw her documented positive "bowel sounds" ⁵⁷ consistent with physical findings of  hyperactive  bowel  sounds ⁵⁸ ,  a sign of abdominal  distention ⁵⁹   which can rapidly  progress  to  intestinal obstruction ⁶⁰  in  which  bowel  sounds  become   hypoactive ⁶¹   due  to  paralytic  Ileus ⁶².  Compare Abdominal symptoms (nausea, abdominal pain or distention) associated with  Heart Failure.  Cached

The same record,  what I take to be Dr. Spiller's  Physical examination  also documents a "soft, non-tender" ⁶³ abdomen, with  "no rebound tenderness" ⁶⁴, and  "no masses" ⁶⁵.  Rebound abdominal tenderness is common but  nonspecific in liver trauma ⁶⁶.  Submit that an enlarged liver ⁶⁷ usually feels soft due to hepatomegaly ⁶⁸ (liver enlargement)  a sign of liver disease.  It is also associated with fatty infiltration ⁶⁹, congestion  and early obstruction  of the bile ducts ⁷⁰. Distinct  masses  ⁷¹, on the other hand, suggest either a growth or lessions ⁷².   The record  clearly  documents  "no masses".  Hepatomegally ⁶⁸ is also associated with Clinical Diabetes. ⁷³.  See BILE FACT SHEET.  ⁷⁴  Compare Cholangitis

What also appears to be a referral at  A-6 of the medical record,  a chart copy  from the admitting physician directed to the attention of the attending physician documents what I take to be a provisional  diagnosis  ⁸¹ of "vomiting".  Submit that vomiting is NOT a diagnosis but rather a symptom  ⁸² of many causes. See:  Nausea and vomiting Further, a question appears to have been raised (but also ignored) with respect to possible metastatic ⁸³ cancer of the brain,  leaving the etiology ⁸⁴ of the vomiting and the stomach pain  left undetermined for the attention of the patient's family MD, namely,  Dr. Jordan.  Submit that stomach pain concurrent with nausea and vomiting points to the "abdomen"⁸⁵ of the problem.  There are NO records to suggest that the ED physician  had  ever  bothered  to take the time to perform a Complete Physical ⁸⁶ or a Neurological Examination ⁸⁷ of this oncology ⁸⁸ patient. Compare:  Oncologic Emergencies  ⁸⁹.