Ambulance service liable after man dies of nut allergy after hospital transfer delay

MONTREAL — A Quebec ambulance service is on the hook for $442,000 in damages for not following protocols, leading to the death of an 18-year-old man after a reaction to a nut allergy.

Urgences-santé was ordered by Quebec Superior Court to pay to the family of Nutin McFarland, who died even though he became ill less than a kilometre from a Montreal hospital.

McFarland was an 18-year-old Innu man who had moved to Montreal from the Maliotenam Innu reserve, located near the town of Sept-Îles, to attend junior college.

He was otherwise healthy but had a peanut and tree nut allergy.

While visiting the residence of his girlfriend’s father in Verdun, a Montreal suburb, he suffered an anaphylactic reaction after eating a tuna sandwich he found in the fridge.

The hospital was just 700 metres away, but McFarland was convinced to call 911, with first responders using an EpiPen and administering oxygen.

However, the court found the ambulance technicians who arrived afterwards failed to urgently transfer McFarland to the hospital just one minute away or inform them of his impending arrival.

That delay cost McFarland his life, Quebec Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Edwards concluded in a ruling dated Aug. 29.

“The court concludes that Urgences-Santé’s negligence, including the failure to follow applicable intervention protocols, to make a hasty departure, to provide urgent transport and to send notice to the hospital, was the direct cause of Nutin’s death,” Edwards wrote.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2025.