Vancouver Province Kills Story of St. Paul's Hospital Death

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Editor Kills Story of St. Paul's Hospital Death

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Top News Executive A Director of St.Paul's Hospital Foundation

After Ms. Semin Ilman, a cancer patient, died under questionable circumstances at Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital, the family decided it would be in public interest to talk to the news media (See "Vancouver Family Seeks Criminal Charges in St.Paul's Hospital Death", December 10,2007, nowpublic.com). Vancouver Province health reporter, a seasoned professional, thought this was a story that should be published. Victim's brother Mark says "Actually he came after us. He was very keen on publishing the story as soon as possible on a Sunday so more people would read about it. Pctures were taken, we gave him a copy of the radiology report that had shown a significant remission but ignored by doctors." Mark went to medical school abroad but does not practise medicine in Canada.

The reporter told the two brothers that it would not hold up the story if the hospital and the doctors declined to comment. In fact, they would probably decline to comment, and it's better journalism if the response has not been prepared in advance. On the day the hospital was contacted and declined to comment, however, things changed. The editor decided not to publish the story.

Victim's brother Stephan says "I sent an express authorization to hospital executives allowing them to speak to the reporter on my sister's treatment, but it was apparently an exercise to justify the editorial decision that had already been made. When they denied any wrongdoing the reporter said they denied it so there was no story. Of course they would deny any wrongdoing, but how can anybody deny the facts that are on her medical record and witnessed by other health care workers?"

British Columbia's two daily newspapers, Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province, are owned by the Canwest Global Group that controls a large portion of Canada's news media. Canwest Mediaworks Publications is the newspaper division of the media empire headed by Dennis Skulsky. Dennis Skulsky is also a director of the St.Paul's Hospital Foundation, a non-profit organization.

Stephan does not believe that a man of Dennis Skulsky's stature would have interfered personally with a professional reporter's decision. He thinks this is a case of editor-imposed censorship and mass control Canadians are used to by now. He says "The incident opened several legal, political and moral issues besides the quality of health care that the editor probably decided were too controversial for good business, and better left alone. They criticize Third World countries all the time for violating freedom of expression, but who do Canadians turn to when a handful of people decide what the public needs to know? I told the reporter that with all this control and censorship the public does not trust mainstream media any more and is turning to the Internet as a more reliable source of information. That's when he got very upset and hung up on me."

Stephan turned to Leonard Asper, the Canwest Media Mogul, for a review. And he's holding his breath...