Article content continued

Eileen Sanders died on March 22, 2015. Her son had gotten the representation agreement the year before his mom died from complications of her peripheral vascular disease.

Sanders’ end of life experiences have played out in numerous legal hearings for three years because her son has filed complaints to every authority he could, starting with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. which dismissed his complaint about Love, finding he was diligent and attentive. In fact, the same year the College dealt with the Sanders complaint, it awarded Love with an Excellence in Medical Practice award for his tireless advocacy and creation of a palliative care service in Nanaimo.

The Health Professionals Review Board (HPRB) also did an investigation after a complaint from Sanders and found no fault with what the College decided.

Sanders also complained to the Vancouver Island Patient Care Quality Review Board, which concluded in 2016 that it may not have been right to override Sanders’ health care representation agreement but medical professionals were “acting in your mother’s best interest.” The hospital should have involved the Public Guardian and Trustee, the board recommended. The board also found that medical personnel need more training for dealing with end of life patients “to determine the appropriate protocols surrounding informed consent and revocation of a representation agreement.”

Still dissatisfied, Sanders took his complaint to the Supreme Court of B.C. in 2017, asking it to quash the HPRB decision which found that Love did not breach his obligations by overriding Sanders. The court reserved its decision after a three-day hearing last fall in Victoria but has now issued its decision, ruling against Sanders.