Reference no: EM133602964
Case: CBC News has obtained surveillance video of a man forced to crawl away from a Toronto-area hospital after being refused treatment. The video has raised questions about how people with mental health issues are treated when they need medical help captures. patient crawling out of hospital after staff dismiss pleas for help
David Pontone's voice still shakes as he recalls having to crawl out of Toronto's Humber River Hospital on his hands and knees.
"The pain was unbearable," said Pontone. "To be able to walk properly was impossible."
It happened on April 18, 2018, but involved a lengthy battle for his family to obtain video footage of the event.
The 45-year-old had gone to emergency, complaining of excruciating pain in his legs.
Pontone also told medical staff he took medication for bipolar affective disorder - a mental illness that causes severe depression and episodes of mania - but that he'd been stable for seven years. He says that disclosure affected his treatment."They thought I was faking it because I was bipolar," Pontone told Go Public. "There are no words to describe what I went through that night."
One of Canada's leading psychiatric experts says overlooking serious physical health issues in people who struggle with mental illness is a widespread problem - and that it can severely shorten their lifespans.
"We are failing this population miserably," said Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos, psychiatrist and physician-in-chief at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital. "They go in for a broken leg and get sent to psychiatry to check their head."
Pontone says he hopes sharing his story will prevent others from experiencing an ordeal like his.
"I was mistreated. Misjudged. It should never be repeated, with any person," he said.
When Pontone arrived at emergency he was seen by a doctor who ordered an MRI but also referred him to an on-call psychiatrist after learning about his mental illness. Video cameras at the exit captured Pontone as he was ordered to leave. The footage shows Pontone lying on the hallway floor, struggling to stand.
As he gets to his hands and knees and crawls toward the exit, a nurse walks next to him, escorting him out. Passersby stop to look at the spectacle, but the nurse encourages Pontone to keep going.
Use this section to write your response to one of the following questions from the video we watched in class:
CBC article and video (the David Pantone story)
1. What intervention could have been done by the hospital team?
2. What systemic issues impacted the outcome of this event? Reflect on our conversations regarding stigma and oppression.
3. What needs to change to prevent incidents like this moving forward? Individually vs system-wise