Class-action lawsuit application for COVID-19 response in long-term care homes begins in Quebec

Class-action request for long-term care residents A Quebec judge is asked to authorize a class-action lawsuit on behalf of residents of CHSLDs where COVID-19 outbreaks occurred.

A Quebec Superior Court judge is being asked to authorize a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all residents of public long-term care homes that experienced COVID-19 outbreaks during the pandemic's first two waves.

Montreal lawyer Patrick Martin-Ménard said today in court that Quebec's early response to COVID-19 in long-term care homes was marked by improvisation and that a pre-existing pandemic plan was ignored until it was too late.

The lawsuit would also include family members of residents who died between March 2020 and March 2021.

Martin-Ménard says that outbreaks at care homes would have been prevented had the existing plan been put into action.

He says long-term care centres were ill-prepared to receive patients from hospitals, and couldn't properly care for residents after the government banned visits from family caregivers.

Lawyers for the Quebec government are scheduled to argue against the lawsuit later this week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2023.