Sawatzky v. Riverview Health Centre ^[20]

Andrew Sawatzky, a seventy-nine year old resident of the province of Manitoba, became the focus of a battle over the right to life-saving treatment. In 1998, while he was a patient at the Riverview Health Centre, a DNR Order was placed on his medical chart without the consent of Mr. Sawatzky or his wife. He was ruled by the Riverview medical staff as “mentally incompetent,” a decision challenged by his wife, who struggled to have the DNR Order removed. Because of her opposition to the decisions made by the Riverview Health Centre, the guardianship of Andrew Sawatzky was removed from his wife’s care and he was placed in the custody of the Public Trustee. Mrs. Sawatzky went to the Court of Queen’s Bench to have the DNR Order removed. The MLPD was granted full intervener status in this court case. Mrs. Sawatzky was successful, and the DNR Order was removed from her husband’s medical file.

What is important to note about this case are the following:

	Andrew Sawatzky had only intended to be at the Riverview Health Centre for a short term stay to receive therapy. This was never understood by the Sawatzkys as being a palliative care situation;
	until the Court of Queen’s Bench hearing, it was understood and accepted by a healthcare institution that a doctor was qualified to make both a “medical” and an ”ethical” decision regarding the life of a patient, and neither the patient nor his family were consulted, nor their objections considered, in this decision making process.
	the involvement of the Office of the Public Trustee and the role it plays in protecting the rights of persons deemed as “incompetent” or “vulnerable.”

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20	Sawatzky and Riverview Health Centre, Inc. Docket: C198-01-10245, [1998] M.J. No. 506.

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