Former Calgary pathologist sued by dead toddler’s family

[Alison J Stevens]

Former Calgary pathologist sued by dead toddler’s family

By Jason van Rassel, 

February 29, 2012

 

CALGARY — A former Calgary pathologist whose findings were reviewed by justice officials is being sued by the family of a toddler whose case sparked the probe.

A statement of claim filed in a Calgary court Wednesday alleges Dr. Michael Belenky’s mistaken finding the two-year-old’s accidental death was a homicide cast the family under a pall of suspicion and resulted in child welfare authorities placing the toddler’s stepbrother in foster care.

The lawsuit is seeking nearly $2 million in damages on behalf of the surviving stepbrother and his family, including his father and his paternal grandparents.

“It was a nightmare,” said the child plaintiff’s grandmother, who referred any further questions to the family’s lawyers.

Belenky is one of several defendants named in the suit, which also alleges negligence by the provincial attorney general, the office of the chief medical examiner and child welfare authorities.

The Calgary Herald has been unable to reach Belenky for comment regarding the lawsuit’s claims, which are unproven in court.

Child welfare legislation prevents publishing the name of the plaintiffs or the boy, who died on April 4, 2009.

The boy suffered a fatal head injury while being looked after by his stepfather at their Calgary home three days before his death.

“The Certificate of Medical Examiner completed by Belenky, dated July 20, 2010 stated that the immediate cause of death of the deceased infant was ‘blunt head injuries’ and that the manner of death was ‘homicide,’” reads the statement of claim filed Wednesday in Court of Queen’s Bench.

Suspicions over the toddler’s death prompted child welfare workers to apprehend his stepbrother and place him in foster care.

The stepbrother’s paternal grandparents received temporary guardianship and the boy went to live with them in B.C. in June 2010.

However, child welfare authorities apprehended the boy again a month later and put him back in foster care.

The family’s statement of claim alleges the boy was taken again because they would not agree to demands to cut off contact between him and his father.

The lawsuit claims child welfare authorities and a worker involved in the case were negligent, and “did not have reasonable and probable grounds to believe (the boy) was in need of intervention(s).”

A Calgary homicide detective assigned to the case first raised concerns about the term “non-accidental” used in one of Belenky’s reports.

The investigator, Det. Ron Ho, told the Calgary Herald last year he requested a meeting with Belenky in August 2010 to discuss the terminology.

In January 2011, Ho wanted further clarification about the report, but Belenky had previously left the medical examiner’s office in Calgary for unrelated reasons.

Another medical examiner who looked at the case for police raised questions about the findings, leading Alberta Justice in Jan. 31 to announce a review of all criminal files handled by Belenky.

In March 2011, authorities overturned Belenky’s original finding in the toddler’s death and determined it was accidental, that he likely suffered the fatal head injury falling from a piece of furniture.

After that finding, the surviving stepbrother, now five years old, was returned to his father following nearly two years in foster care.

“The chief medical examiner failed to ensure that Belenky and the CME (chief medical examiner) employees were properly qualified,” reads the statement of claim.

“The chief medical examiner allowed Belenky and the CME employees to conduct the examination when he knew or ought to have known that they lacked the skills, training or other resources necessary to conduct the examination,” it continues.

Belenky, 47, was educated in his native Russia and received further medical training during residencies in the U.S.

Alberta Justice officials confirmed last year Belenky did not have a certification in forensic pathology from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

However, board certification was not a requirement when Alberta Justice hired Belenky in 2008.

The lawsuit alleges Belenky subsequently failed in attempts to qualify for the designation.

“(Belenky) failed his certification exams to become qualified to practice as a pathologist and/or medical examiner while in the employ of the chief medical examiner,” the claim alleges.

Since the review of Belenky’s files, Alberta Justice has also launched a probe of cases handled by another former forensic pathologist, Dr. Evan Matshes.

The investigation, launched earlier this month, was prompted by questions from an insurance company about an accidental death finding.

After an internal probe raised further questions in four non-criminal cases, three files were then sent to U.S. pathologists for a peer review.

During 13 months in the Calgary medical examiner’s office, Matshes conducted 426 death investigations, including 13 criminal cases, which are being reviewed first.

Matshes, who is board certified, left the medical examiner’s office in September 2011 for reasons unrelated to the review.

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