Justice for Blair’s family after 6 years ‘I
Inquest finds centre guilty
WAS ecstatic when I got the news that everyone had been found guilty.”
That was the response on Wednesday from Glen Trouchet, father of Cape Town designer Blair Trouchet after last week’s inquest into the sudden death of his daughter at South Coast Recovery Centre in February 2011.
Delivering the verdict, Port Shepstone magistrate Bryan Munilall ruled “the South Coast Recovery Centre (SCRC) and/or its employees acting in the course and scope of their employment with the SCRC, and Dr Stephen Stewart were the persons responsible for causing the death of Mrs Trouchet.”
The finding has taken six grief-stricken years and numerous court hearings for the Trouchet family, whose 28-yearold daughter was admitted to the drug rehabilitation centre on February 20, 2011 and who died on February 23.
Following detailed medical evidence, Manilall stated the cause of Trouchet’s unexplained death as “bronchopneumonia which led to cardiac arrest, caused by the deceased aspirating gastric contents in her lungs, caused by the fact that her respiratory system was depressed, caused by the fact that diazepam and methadone was administered to the deceased”.
In his summation, Manilall stressed that while medicine dosages affected individuals differently “the only conclusion that the court can come to is that Blair’s compromised state in the morning of her demise was caused by nothing else other than the drugs that were administered”.
He described the “buddy” system of monitoring at the centre involving fellow patients as “inadequate, insufficient and inappropriate”.
Trouchet’s father said the past six years trying to find the truth behind his daughter’s death have been “the worst of my life. I constantly think about my little girl who loved and lived life. What she would be doing today. She was so kind-hearted, from looking after stray animals to giving her last cent to help a friend. She lightened up everyone’s life…. she was a free and happy soul”.
He added he hoped the finding would serve as a “wake-up call” to rehab centres saying, “they are not a god unto themselves to do what they want. Caring for the patients and making them well should be their objective and not making money out of helpless people and families”. The family will pursue a civil case.
But the centre, headed by Conrad Cooper, has hit back at the finding, raising the possibility of taking the decision on review to the High Court.
Jan-Hendrik Senekal, from Strauss Daly Attorneys, issued a statement on Thursday on behalf of the centre and Stewart, saying: “While our clients respect the magistrate’s finding and sympathise with the Trouchet family, we do not agree that the finding is an accurate and balanced perspective of the evidence which the magistrate allowed to be presented. “We have thus instructed senior counsel to consider the finding and the record with the view of taking the decision on review to the High Court.”
Senekal added the inquest finding that the centre did not have the required medical equipment available was “not correct as, a short time before and prior to the death of Trouchet, following an inspection of the centre, the Department of Health’s report stated that the Centre provided a “first class service”, confirming the centre had all necessary medical equipment available. A representative of the Department of Health confirmed this in court.”
With regard to medication, Senekal said: “We are respectfully of the view that the magistrate, in considering the medication administered to the deceased, failed to have due regard to the evidence that only trace elements were found in her blood post-mortem which levels constitute only a fraction of those usually associated with drug-induced deaths.
“In this regard we point out that our clients were precluded from calling a highly qualified expert to give evidence on technical grounds.”
He added that since 2010, both the Department of Health and Department of Social Development conducted numerous inspections of the South Coast Recovery Centre and assessed the centre to be a leader in the treatment of substance abuse. “The Department of Health has commended the SCRC, which has continually and continues to implement upgrades to its facilities and services.”
Senekal also stated that a private investigator appointed by the Trouchet family had interfered with inquest proceedings which “materially affected the State’s ability to conduct a full and fair investigation”.
The Medical Rights Advocacy Network (Meran), which assisted the Trouchet family following their daughter’s death, also issued a statement yesterday saying: “Meran welcomes the findings of the Inquest and hopes that they will assist in bringing closure to the Trouchet family who have fought for years for justice for Blair. We also hope that they will be used to improve medical oversight of rehabilitation centres.”