As the pandemic struck a Quebec nursing home last year, officials made it harder to send ailing residents to hospital and repeatedly provided morphine

Quebec nursing home often gave morphine rather than treat COVID-19 patients, inquest told

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2021-07-22 02:00:10

As the pandemic struck a Quebec nursing home last year, officials made it harder to send ailing residents to hospital and repeatedly provided morphine rather than treat those with breathing problems, a coroner’s inquest heard Wednesday.

A nurse testified that the Sainte-Dorothée long-term care facility consistently administered morphine instead of attempting to prolong the life of elderly residents who were believed to have COVID-19.

Ms. Morin was an assistant chief nurse at Sainte-Dorothée, an LTC home north of Montreal where more than 100 residents died during the first wave of the pandemic last year.

She was alluding to a medical assessment tool where morphine, the sedative Ativan and scopolamine, an anti-nausea drug, are administered if a resident’s breathing troubles meet a number of criteria.

“It was like, they have respiratory distress, ‘Okay, we put them on the protocol.’ Morphine, scopolamine, Ativan,” Ms. Morin said.