Yellowknife doctor argues no evidence in metal clip lawsuit
Darlene Larabie suing doctors, nurses, Stanton Hospital over 1993 gall bladder surgery
One Yellowknife doctor has asked to be dismissed from a $500,000 lawsuit launched by an Edmonton woman, who claims doctors at Stanton Territorial Hospital left a piece of metal in her back for eight years.
Darlene Larabie underwent gall bladder surgery at Stanton Territorial Hospital in March 1993.
Eight years later, Larabie said a doctor in Edmonton requested she get an ultrasound after she complained of back pain. Court documents state that "the presence of a surgical clip in the upper right quadrant of her lumbar spine left from the cholecystectomy ...was confirmed."
Larabie is asking for damages from the two doctors who performed the surgery and the anesthetist.
Larabie is also asking for damages from Stanton Territorial Hospital and three nurses who have not been named.
She is asking for about $500,000 for injuries such as severe pain, depression and fatigue that she says were caused by the metal clip.
No evidence, says lawyer
In N.W.T. Supreme Court Monday, the lawyer for Dr. Patricia Snozyk, one of the doctors named in the suit, requested that his client be dropped from the lawsuit, saying that Larabie has not shown she has a case and that too much time has passed since her 1993 surgery.
Speaking in court over the telephone from Edmonton, Larabie's partner said the cause of her back pain wasn't discovered until 2011, when a doctor was called out of the room during an X-ray and saw the clip.
Dr. Snozyk's lawyer said Larabie hadn't submitted any evidence, such as expert testimony, that shows she has a case.
Larabie's partner said in response that the couple no longer has a lawyer, and that their legal paperwork has gone missing.
The presiding judge then asked Larabie's partner why they didn't ask for an adjournment, which would defer the hearing until a further date, but Larabie's partner said they didn't realize that was an option.
The judge is reviewing the case before giving a decision as to whether Dr. Snozyk will be dropped from the lawsuit.