Hinshaw apologizes after Alberta mistakenly reports 14-year-old's cancer death was caused by COVID-19
The family of a 14-year-old Alberta boy who recently died doesn’t want his nine-month cancer fight overlooked because he tested positive for COVID-19 shortly before dying.
Nathanael Spitzer’s death on Oct. 7 was reported by the province several days later as Alberta’s youngest COVID-19 fatality.
But Nathanael’s siblings say doctors found an inoperable tumour on their brother’s brain months earlier.
“It was a high-grade glioma and the doctors, they didn’t even give him the nine months. They didn’t give us an exact number but they really suggested that five months, six months, maybe,” Jonatan Spitzer told CTV News Edmonton.
“Basically, the whole nine months he was fighting for cancer, and then two days before his death, it was just a COVID case,” Simone Spitzer, Nathanael's sister, added.
“We just want to get the story straight.”
‘NOT LIKE HE HAD ALL THIS TIME THAT WAS TAKEN AWAY’
Nathanael spent his last months in hospital, always with one parent beside his bed.
Jonatan said he watched his brother grow weaker by the day.
Days before Nathanael -- or Nati, as his family called him -- passed, he tested positive for COVID-19.
Jonatan said he immediately began to worry his brother’s cause of death would be classified as coronavirus: “What if they’re going to write it off?”
“I assured my parents, like, there’s no way they’re going to do that. That would just be ridiculous. There’s no way they could do that.”
Five days later, Alberta’s top government and health officials delivered the provincial COVID-19 update in a live news conference. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw reported 33 deaths due to COVID-19 over the Thanksgiving long weekend.
“This includes the death of a 14-year-old who had complex, pre-existing medical medical conditions that played a significant role in their death,” she said before continuing, “I extend my deepest condolences to the loved ones of all of these individuals.”
The Spitzer family in Ponoka believes Alberta was wrong for reporting Nati’s death as caused by COVID-19, and was upset by subsequent headlines.
“It’s not like he had all this time that was taken away from him,” Jonatan said.
In his last days, Simone said not even the pain stopped Nathanael from having a smile on his face and a quip on the tip of his tongue. She called him sunshine.
“All of his fighting was now swept under the table, and he’s just another COVID case.”
'I APOLOGIZE FOR THIS'
Hinshaw started her Thursday remarks with an apology to Spitzer's family.
"The pain of losing a child is terrible enough without having that loss compounded by a public debate about the circumstances. I'm sorry if the way that I spoke about that death made your grief worse," she said.
Hinshaw went on to explain Alberta Health's death review process, or how it determines whether COVID-19 was a primary or secondary cause.
In its COVID-19 reporting, Alberta Health classifies all related deaths as those in which COVID-19 was a direct or contributing factor.
COVID-19 is ruled a primary cause when it directly led to death, Hinshaw explained, whereas it being labelled as a secondary cause means the disease worsened a severe pre-existing condition that results in death. The province considers cancer -- among diabetes, dementia, chronic kidney disease and others -- as pre-existing health conditions.
However, a review of Spitzer's death after Tuesday's announcement found COVID-19 did not play a primary or secondary role in his death, Hinshaw said.
"While initial report of the death of the 14-year-old included COVID as a secondary cause, we have now received additional information that indicates COVID was not a cause of death."
Alberta Health will no longer publicly report COVID-19 deaths in anyone under the age of 18 until the review process is completed.
"We will prioritize accuracy over timeliness in these cases," Hinshaw said.
Spitzer's death was removed from Alberta's COVID-19 death count.
Simone told CTV News that while the Spitzer family appreciates the new change in protocol, the feeling of betrayal is still there.
"Dealing with this situation right after losing Nathanael to cancer has caused a lot of frustration within family and friends," Simone said.
Alberta Health has before removed deaths from its total count when a post-mortem review concluded COVID-19 was not a direct or major factor in the person’s passing. The most recent example is from Oct. 7, when the department removed three deaths from the provincial total after determining they were unrelated to COVID-19.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson and Matthew Black
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.