A Regina woman is suing her mother’s doctor after she died from cardiac arrest in 2014.
Shelly Riffel filed the statement of claim at Regina’s Court of Queen’s Bench on May 24. The lawsuit says Riffel’s mother, Sandra Hendricks, visited Dr. Svitlana Cheshenchuk on Oct. 17, 2014. Hendricks, who was 71 at the time, wasn’t feeling well.
According to the lawsuit, Cheshenchuk ordered an electrocardiogram (ECG) for Hendricks. The ECG was sent to Dr. Luis Salgado, a general practitioner who was qualified in reading the ECG.
The lawsuit goes on to say that Cheshenchuk released Hendricks from her office and gave her a prescription for an antibiotic. It alleges that after Hendricks left the doctor’s office, Salgado sent the ECG back to Cheshenchuk and said it was abnormal. Riffel said Cheshenchuk didn’t follow up with Hendricks about the results, and Hendricks died later that day from heart failure.
The statement of claim alleges Cheshenchuk attempted to alter her clinical notes after Hendricks’ death. Cheshenchuk received a one-month suspension from her practice on Jan. 19, 2018.
In a statement of defence, Cheshenchuk, who also goes by Dr. Svitlana Ziarko, denies the claims of Riffel’s lawsuit. The statement agrees that Hendricks did come to see Cheshenchuk on Oct. 17, 2014, and that the ECG was order. However, it says Hendricks was advised by Cheshenchuk to seek medical attention for a potential heart condition. The doctor “denies that she was negligent in her care and treatment” of Hendricks.
Riffel is asking for benefits to be paid to her and her brother, Theodore Riffel, for $30,000 each. Additionally, she is asking for funeral costs and other claimable benefits, along with medical expenses and $60,000 through the Fatal Accidents Act.
Cheshenchuk is asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
