A Montreal naturopath has been found guilty of manslaughter, after the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned her 2015 acquittal in the death of an 84-year-old man who was her client.
The Court of Appeal also ordered Mitra Javanmardi to undergo a new trial on a separate charge of criminal negligence causing death.
In April, 2015, Javanmardi was acquitted of charges related to Roger Matern’s 2008 death.
Matern died in June of that year, after visiting Javanmardi’s clinic for treatment of heart problems.
During Matern’s visit, Javanmardi administered an injection of magnesium, after which he started to feel ill. Matern was taken to a hospital hours later, and he died the next day.
Javanmardi has been fined by The College of Physicians on three separate occasions in the past for practising without a licence, including administering injections. In Quebec, only doctors and nurses can legally administer injections.
The judge in the 2015 trial concluded that even though Javanmardi was illegally administering injections, she acted with due diligence and therefore could not be found guilty of manslaughter.
But the Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that the lower court judge made an error in finding Javanmardi not guilty after recognizing that it was illegal for her to administer IVs.
With a report from CTV Montreal
