Coroner finds lapses in care for Quebec man who sought MAID after hospital bedsores

MONTREAL — A coroner says Quebec health authorities should improve their approach to caring for people with spinal cord injuries, after a man sought a medically assisted death because of bedsores from a hospital stay.

Coroner Dave Kimpton issued his report today in the death of Normand Meunier, 66, who received MAID in March 2024, just two months after an 11-day stay at a hospital north of Montreal.

During that hospital stay, the quadriplegic Quebec man developed pressure sores so painful he wanted to die.

Kimpton issued a total of 31 recommendations, including that hospitals better co-ordinate care for patients with complex conditions.

The recommendations aim to correct what the coroner describes as systemic failures in the care of patients with spinal cord injuries.

Kimpton says that hospital staff caring for Meunier faced delays in accessing equipment, poorly co-ordinated their interventions, and failed to properly communicate with each other.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2025.