MD wrote man who died in Winnipeg emergency room partly responsible for own death

WINNIPEG – A physician who examined the body of a man who died during a 34-hour wait at a hospital emergency room said the death was partly self-inflicted.

That was the conclusion reached by Dr. Marc Del Bigio after he examined Brian Sinclair’s brain in September 2008.

The inquest into Sinclair’s death heard Del Bigio wrote an email suggesting the double amputee’s chronic solvent abuse caused the health problems that brought him to the emergency room.

Del Bigio told Manitoba’s medical examiner and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority that the hospital was not solely responsible for Sinclair’s death.

He wrote “societal blame can only go so far” and “at some level individuals must accept responsibility.”

Sinclair died from an infection caused by a blocked catheter while waiting for treatment.