Senior Referred to Third Party for Unjust Driver Assessment
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I was called on December 9, 2009 by a nurse who said her name was Sandra Butler and worked with Doctor J. Wong at the Gateway Pharmacy, 3803 Calgary Trail. [I was] to come in [and] have a chat with her. I was approached in the office by Sandra asking me to follow her into the office. She informed me that I was there to be tested to ensure that I was capable of having a driver license.
The first few questions: my name, address, checked the back of my brain, she mentioned that she would then check the front of my brain while timing with a watch, I had to spell words backwards, numbers, which she read off to me fairly fast and got longer. I could not remember the first ones she had said. I stood up saying that I will not continue with this test because I don’t know what this has to do with my driving.
She wanted me to wait while she would talk to Dr. Wong. I was informed that I had failed the test and would have to do a DriveAble assessment and pay $200.00 or there would be a loss of my drivers license. I am 74 years old, have no sugar diabetes, my drivers license has never been counseled [sic], and had no violations or accidents.
Original Letter
Report Passed onto DriveAble
Responses
Letter
HAND DELIVERED
May 6, 2010
Mr. Fred Horne, MLA, Edmonton Rutherford,
308 Saddleback Road NW, Edmonton, Alberta T6J 4R7
Dear Mr. Horne:
Thank you for meeting with me and a member of the Elder Advocates of Alberta Society on the afternoon of Friday, January 22nd, 2010 concerning driving issues. Thank you for your correspondence of March 4, 2010 and April 22, 2010. I submit that you failed to address the issues which we put before you. Furthermore, I have contacted the College of Physicians and Surgeons and to date they have failed to contact me.
During our meeting, we discussed the troubling violation of rights by Dr. J. Wong of the Gateway Medical Clinic, Edmonton, who threatened to strip me of my driving license, even though he had already approved my license some weeks earlier. We also discussed that on January 3, 2010, I was called into his office “for a little chat” which I thought would address health issues. Instead, I was lead into a back room by Sandra Butler RN who proceeded to inform me that she would “examine my brain” to see if I was capable of driving, first the “back of my brain”, then the “front of my brain”. After the initial shock I refused to complete the cognitive assessment. Both Dr. Wong and Sandra Butler told me that I had failed the assessment which I refused to complete. Then, without my permission, this misinformation was published together with my personal and private patient health information to a public agency, the DriveAble assessment center.
We also expressed strong concern regarding the RNs in Dr. Wong’s office, particularly Sandra Butler, RN, a trainee of the Primary Care Network who is allowed full access to private patient’s medical files and takes the liberty to divulge it publicly.
You are our MLA whom we elected and your platform was that you would be accountable for our issues. If you do not address the issue, the same doctor can assess others and strip them of their rights and money and even have them locked up. As you know this is happening to seniors. It is shocking that doctors are given such absolute power. By your written responses, it would strongly appear that you and the government approves of this abuse. We have asked you to investigate these matters and are awaiting your reply. We would be grateful to be in receipt of your reply by the 15th of May 2010. Thank you again for meeting with us.
Yours truly,
David Erisman
cc. The Honourable Mr. Luke Ouellette, Minister of Transportation.
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