Soldier’s family pleased with inquiry recommendations
EDMONTON The family of an Edmonton soldier who died by suicide in 2012 said they’re pleased with recommendations made by a judge following a public fatality inquiry into the young woman’s death.
“We went through 5-½ years of hell,” Lt. Shawna Rogers’ father, Rick Rogers, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “We’re just glad it’s over.”
The civilian inquiry was held at the behest of the Rogers family, who refused to participate in a Canadian Forces board of inquiry into the suicide. In 2013, the military issued summonses threatening the grieving parents with legal sanctions if they did not hand over information about their daughter, but backed off when the parents launched a court challenge.
In a report published Tuesday, provincial court Judge Susan Richardson made four recommendations calling for increased medical oversight of and education for patients who are prescribed opioids.
During the November hearing, court heard Rogers twice injured her back during basic training with the military in 2008. She sought out a range of therapies and even surgery, but chronic pain led to her being prescribed opioids, to which she developed a dependence. She also began taking street drugs when other treatments were ineffective. Her work assignments with the military changed to accommodate her chronic pain. She became depressed, and sought help from a psychiatrist and a psychologist. Her supervisor, doctors and a sister all encouraged her to seek residential treatment for addiction, but she declined.
“She didn’t want to trouble her family or be a burden to them. She certainly did not want to compromise her career with the military, believing that by accessing the residential treatment that was offered to her, she could be limiting her future with the Canadian Forces,” Richardson found.
The 27-year-old soldier was last seen alive on Oct. 22, 2012, when she went to work and visited a doctor at the base’s medical clinic. Shawna Rogers was discovered dead in her home on Oct. 29, 2012.
According to the report, she died from acute toxicity from cocaine and buprenorphine — an opioid used to treat opioid dependence.
Richardson wrote that Shawna Rogers was “loved, intelligent, strong, ambitious and physically active,” and proud to be a member of the Canadian Forces.
“In Ms. Rogers’ case, her strength of character made it particularly difficult for her to be open to treatment for her addiction or for those around her to assess the depth of her despair,” Richardson wrote.
The judge made four recommendations for preventing similar opioid-related deaths, including mandatory patient education about addiction, regular psychological reviews, encouraging the return of unused medication and having a single medical service provider collect all health information.
Judges presiding over fatality inquiries are not allowed to assign blame. Richardson also noted in her report that she isn’t allowed to make recommendations to the Canadian Forces because it is outside her court’s jurisdiction.
The military did participate and provide information to the provincial court inquiry, though, generally, it does not publicize the outcomes of its own inquiries.
Shawna Rogers’ mother, Ellen Rogers, said she’s hopeful the recommendations will help others, and said the timing of the report is fitting as it would be her daughter’s birthday Friday.
“We try to just celebrate her life,” she said.