Allison Holthoff’s care was ‘provided reasonably, appropriately’: N.S. Health

Nova Scotia Health has filed a statement of defense in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in response to a lawsuit filed by the family of Alison Holthoff, who died late last year after waiting hours for treatment at an Amherst hospital.

Halifax law firm Valent Legal went to court on behalf of the 37-year-old husband and children, alleging that Nova Scotia Health was negligent in failing to meet the standard of care by requiring timely and appropriate testing.

The emergency department doctor is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The allegations contained in the family’s lawsuit have not been verified in court.

In its statement of defense filed in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court on February 28, 2023, Nova Scotia Health denies the allegations against it and states that Holthoff’s death was not caused by the negligence of the health authority or any of its staff.

The document further states that any care provided to Holthoff was provided “reasonably, appropriately and in accordance with the applicable standard of care under the circumstances.”

The provincial health authority is asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit and award it costs associated with the lawsuit.

Holthoff arrived at Cumberland Regional Health Center just before noon on New Year’s Eve. Her husband said she was in extreme paineven screamed that he was dying sometimes, but waited for hours for a doctor.

By the time she was taken into the room and given a CT scan that showed internal bleeding, it was too late, her husband said.

Approximately 12 hours after arriving at the hospital, the 37-year-old mother of three died.