The daughter of an elderly dementia patient is revealing how her mother was given a potentially dangerous drug - unapproved for treating her condition - in B.C. care facilities. Hilda Penner was given the anti-psychotic drug Loxapine, without consent and despite her daughter's objections, records provided by her family show. "We told them they were not to give her anti-psychotic drugs," said daughter Doreen Bodnar of the care facilities. "We knew those drugs were terrible for her - that they did terrible things to her."
Penner was given Loxapine and other anti-psychotic drugs several times over a two-year period, as she was moved through several facilities in B.C.'s Fraser Valley. According to Health Canada, Loxapine is intended for treating schizophrenia, but is not approved for dementia patients. In 2005, the agency warned anti-psychotic drugs have been linked to a higher death rate among seniors with that condition.
Records show the drug eventually contributed to Penner suffering a major seizure. The 83-year-old died in November of natural causes. Her case is now under investigation by the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons and the B.C. Ombudsperson. "[Health care staff] made an invalid out of her," said Bodnar. "She couldn't walk and, a lot of times, she couldn't talk because they had her so drugged - and her condition got worse and worse and worse."
Doctor knew family's wishes: daughter
Penner was initially placed in Cheam Village in Agassiz in 2008. She had suffered from a stroke three years earlier. Bodnar said the family was unable to care for her at home, because dementia was setting in. They chose Cheam because Penner's physician, Dr. Lachlan MacIntosh, was the medical director on site. Bodnar said MacIntosh knew the family was opposed to anti-psychotic drugs, because Penner had suffered adverse effects from another drug in that same class that she had taken after she had her stroke.
However, Penner did not settle in at Cheam, Bodnar said, and would constantly ask people to take her home. "She wasn't ready to be locked up. She called me 17 times the first day. 'Get me out of here. Get me out of here. Get me out of here,'" said Bodnar. "She was very repetitive. I guess that's why they started drugging her, because she just got annoying."
Doctor resigned
Records show MacIntosh authorized staff to administer Loxapine to Penner, after staff called him to say they couldn't settle her down. "I did prescribe medications to Mrs. Penner without informing her family, not getting their consent," MacIntosh is recorded as saying in the records. "This was done, initially as a matter of urgency, in response to requests from nursing."
"He said [nursing staff] must have caught me in a weak moment," Bodnar recalled of her conversation with MacIntosh at the time. "That was the first thing that he told us. We were devastated when we found out that that's what he had done." MacIntosh's assistant told CBC News he has "nothing to say" about the case.
In his response to the College, MacIntosh wrote Penner's agitation increased, to the point that she would "hit out" at other residents. He added that he often approved drug changes for patients over the phone. ...
