A woman from Hanwell, New Brunswick, who visited Horizon’s Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital on March 22, 2022, and was informed the next day that her fetus had no heartbeat, has reached a settlement in her lawsuit against the health authority, the hospital, and four physicians. Aimee Dunn filed a lawsuit for negligence, alleging that the doctors and hospital did not provide adequate medical care. The lawsuit, filed in March 2024 in the Court of King’s Bench in Fredericton, sought compensation for pain and suffering, loss of earnings, and aggravated damages.
The case did not go to trial but was resolved in December with the agreement of all parties involved. Aris Lavranos, the lawyer representing Dunn and Mitchell Waite, the father of the fetus, described the resolution as amicable. Lavranos declined to disclose the specific financial settlement, stating that his clients were content with the outcome.
Lavranos, who is both a lawyer and an emergency medicine physician, attributed the fetal loss to a combination of factors rather than a single cause. He emphasized that the negligence claimed in the lawsuit was due to human errors rather than malicious intent by the defendants. Lavranos initially reviewed Dunn’s case at MacGillivray Law, where he was working at the time, and after consulting with experts, believed the case had merit.
Dunn, who declined requests for an interview, received a plaster cast of her daughter’s feet and hands from the hospital staff after the loss. The lawsuit settlement came after Dunn shared her medical records with CBC News following the death of another patient at the same hospital. The patient’s family also reached a confidential settlement in a separate negligence lawsuit against the hospital.
According to court documents, Dunn’s emergency room triage took place at 5:43 p.m. on March 22, 2022, but she was not continuously monitored despite reporting severe pain and concerns for her fetus. Dunn’s claim stated that she was not transferred to acute care until after 6 a.m. the next day, following a seizure. An ultrasound conducted after the seizure revealed no fetal heart rate, leading to immediate obstetric intervention.
On March 23, Dunn underwent a caesarean section and delivered a stillborn girl. Horizon confirmed the conclusion of the lawsuit but declined to provide further comments. Following the loss, Dunn, who worked in housekeeping at the hospital, and Waite, an auto mechanic, felt hesitant about pursuing legal action due to the challenges of facing the Canadian Medical Protective Association, which supports doctors in legal matters.
The association’s latest annual report for 2024 indicated that out of 1,021 legal actions resolved, only nine resulted in judgments for the plaintiffs, with the majority settled or dismissed. The association also reported a record-high compensation payout of $322 million to patients affected by negligent care.