Print media coverage on the Lana Dale Lewis inquest verdict: exaggerated claims or accurate reporting?

• Author: Laeeque, Hina
• Position: Ontario

Introduction

In a 1998 national study, forty-six percent of Canadians said they read daily newspapers as a major source of information. (2) Sixty-one percent of respondents also claimed that they would like to see more reporting on health issues. In the United States, fifty-eight percent of people surveyed said they have changed their behaviour due to a health-related story covered in the media. (3) Therefore, newspaper reports that examine health issues might affect the perceptions and behaviours of Canadians and Americans.

From 1999 to 2004, newspapers across Canada covered the coroner's inquest into the death of Lana Dale Lewis, who suffered a fatal stroke in Toronto, Ontario on September 12, 1996. The Lewis family, convinced that the stroke was caused by a chiropractic neck adjustment, requested an inquest into the death. The Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, the agency responsible for administering the inquest, states that the purpose of an inquest is to determine the circumstances of a death. The purpose of this article is to examine how the print media portrayed the verdict in the Lewis inquest. Although the majority of newspaper articles accurately describe the conclusions of the Lewis inquest, some articles focus on blaming the cause of death on the chiropractic adjustment. This article argues that inaccurate media reports on the verdict undermine the purpose of the Lewis inquest and others like it. The lack of clarity in these reports likely resulted from the vague definition of the purpose of inquests provided by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario.

This article is divided into six main sections. Section 1 describes the nature of inquests in Ontario and compares this with other Canadian provinces and territories. Section 2 describes the Lewis inquest, including the reasons for calling the inquest and a description of the proceedings and findings. Section 3 explains how relevant newspaper articles about the inquest were identified. Sections 4 and 5 examine print media coverage on the verdict. Section 4 provides examples of accurate and complete coverage, whereas Section 5 provides examples of inaccurate coverage of the verdict. Section 6 discusses findings of the print media analysis. The article concludes with recommendations that may help coroners' offices improve their capacity to disseminate accurate information of an inquest verdict.

Section 1: Nature of Inquests in Ontario

The Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario (Coroner's Office), a division of the Ministry of Safety and Correctional Services, carries out inquests under authority of the provincial Coroners Act. (4) The Coroners Act defines the nature of inquests, including the purpose and conclusions of an inquest. An inquest is an investigation into the death of an individual in the community, which is open to the public. The purpose of an inquest is fourfold: first, to determine the identity of the deceased and how, when, where and by what means the deceased died. (5) Secondly, an inquest directs public attention to a death that could have been prevented. Thirdly, an inquest allows the concerned parties to respond to the inquest findings. Fourthly, an inquest should correct misinformation disseminated to the public about a death. Thus, the main focus of an inquest is to consider the circumstances of the death in question while informing the public about the death.

In Ontario, the Coroner's jury can offer only a one-or two-word response at the conclusion of the inquest. The jury must decide that the death in question is a result of an accident, natural causes, undetermined suicide or a homicide. Neither the Coroner's Office website (6) nor the Coroners Act (7) defines these terms explicitly. According to a Coroner's Office representative, an accident is "an incident or event that happens without foresight or expectation" Natural causes were defined as "death due to life course." (8) An undetermined death means that the death in question does not fit the definitions of the other four outcomes or that inconclusive evidence was presented at the inquest. The response options given to the jury is meant to sufficiently and conclusively describe the manner in which an individual came to his or her death.

By limiting the outcomes of an inquest to one of five terms, a jury cannot lay blame or legal responsibility of a death on an individual or organization. (9) On the other hand, the limitation may stifle the jury's ability to accurately depict what caused the death in certain circumstances. In addition to reaching a conclusion about the means by which the death occurred, the jury may also offer recommendations to specific agencies that may help prevent future deaths. By this means, the Coroner's Office aims to fulfill its mandate to "speak for the dead to protect the living." (10)

The nature of inquests in the provinces and territories of Canada varies significantly with respect to the administrator, the authorizing legislation and who offers the recommendations, if any, at the conclusion of the inquest. Inquests may be administered by agencies other than the Coroner's Office, such as the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (Alberta, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia) or the Department of Justice (Newfoundland). The legislation governing the manner in which a coroner or medical examiner should carry out inquests varies across the country because it is province-or territory-specific. For example, the Coroners Act, provides the authority to administer inquests in British Columbia (11) Northwest Territories (12) and Ontario, whereas Manitoba (13) and Alberta (14) follow the Fatality Inquiries Act.

The Coroner's jury differs in size depending on the legislation of the province and is limited to the five terms specifying the manner of death described above in Saskatchewan (15) and British Columbia. (16) In other provinces (such as Manitoba and Alberta), (17) no jury is summoned for the inquest. Rather, a judge witnesses the evidence presented during the investigation and may provide recommendations in a final report on how to prevent future deaths.

Although significant differences exist in how an inquest is conducted and concluded, the purpose of an inquest in the different provinces and territories is identical to that of Ontario. That is, an inquest is performed to investigate the circumstances of a death and determine how, when, where and by what means an individual came to his or her death. Furthermore, all legislation regarding the conduct of coroners/medical officers and inquests states that legal culpability cannot be assigned to an individual or organization during an inquest. Since different Canadian jurisdictions undertake inquests with a similar mandate, the Lewis Inquest can provide lessons for the administrating agencies of all provinces and territories.

Section 2: Background on the Lana Dale Lewis Inquest

1. Summons for an Inquest into the Death of Lana Dale Lewis

From its inception, the Lewis inquest was entrenched in media speculation and political warfare. The Lewis family requested the Regional Coroner for Toronto, Dr. William Lucas, to conduct an inquest on two occasions. (18) The...