By Þórólfur Björnsson
Following our report about the Lifelabs Fiasco and the employee at the heart of it all, Lorna Tessier, more information has surfaced about Lifelabs apparent pattern of negligence over the course of many years involving the same patient.
On August 7, 2012 and August 13, 2012, blood haematology and chemistry tests showing an abnormality consistent with an infection were allegedly never disclosed to the patient and were apparently miscategorized by the ordering doctor due to Lifelabs removing the most part of the patient's name.
On February 3, 2013, Lifelabs further allegedly misplaced and lost blood samples provided by a medical practitioner for the same patient for the purpose of completing a medical clearance. In the absence of being advised otherwise, the patient assumed he was medically fit, and proceeded with planned deployment and combat operations.
The patient, however, had been developing complications following a combat injury, missed over the course of many weeks due to Lifelabs alleged gross negligence. The patient, as a result, underwent medical distress while in a war zone, leading to multiple surgeries, and several weeks in an Intensive Care Unit in a foreign country.
The history of Lifelabs with the patient makes its handling of his file the more puzzling, and its failure to meet a professional standard of care absolutely unexcusable. Several years of medical care shortcomings also strongly suggests systemic organizational failures at the core of Lifelabs, still ignored to this day by management, from Michael McTeague to Sue Paish, with multiple legal proceedings making their way through the court system of several countries.