A physician who treated 13-year-old Samantha Martin in the months before her death raised new possibilities for the girl’s sudden cardiac arrest but could provide no concrete answers.
Dr. David Roseman took the stand Monday afternoon as the fatality inquiry into the young girl’s death continued in Edmonton.
Samantha died in Dec. 2006, after collapsing at her St. Albert home, five months after leaving nearly 13 years of provincial foster care.
The fatality inquiry is meant to determine the cause of the girl’s death and make recommendations to prevent future deaths.
While in this case, Samantha’s death is known to be the result of a cardiac arrest, what caused it remains unclear.
Samantha’s mother Velvet Martin has argued seizures the foster family ignored were ultimately responsible for the girl’s death.
She has also alleged the foster family abused and neglected her daughter, allegations that were vehemently denied when the foster mother took the stand.
Samantha had a rare chromosomal disorder called tetrasome 18p. When she was born Alberta Children’s Services convinced the family she would be best served in foster care where she could receive more support.
Roseman added new theories about what caused the cardiac arrest on Monday afternoon, but he stressed none of them were conclusive.
The pediatrician testified he started seeing Samantha in September, three months before her death. He said she was a healthy young girl when he encountered her and he was stunned when she died.
“It seemed as though lots of things were getting better.”
The first possible cause Roseman raised Monday was a urinary tract infection.
He said based on test results she almost certainly had such an infection following the collapse, which might have created a toxin leading to cardiac arrest.
He said Samantha was healthy and a urinary tract infection usually only leads to death in the elderly or frail.
“The perky, rotund child that I saw I would not equate with a frail child.”
He said everything about Samantha’s health was improving and such an infection claiming her life was hard to imagine, while at the same time he was not sure how else to explain it.
When Martin raised the possibility of seizures leading to cardiac arrest, he said he did not believe that was likely either.
“I would be surprised if the seizures caused the death but I have no way to prove or refute that.”
Seizures cause other problems including hindering learning and Roseman said the notion untreated seizures could lead to a child’s death was hard to test because seizures are always treated.
When the foster family’s legal counsel Tom Engel questioned Roseman he admitted his medical notes of the two visits he had with Samantha don’t make explicit mentions of the seizure disorder, but he said he was confident she was experiencing them and was testing only to confirm that.
“I remember being certain at the end of the visit that she was having seizures.”
He said he wanted to be sure before medicating Samantha because of the drugs’ side effects.
Martin also asked Roseman about the possibility of abuse or malnutrition leading to the girl’s death. He said while it was possible, he also found that unlikely.
Roseman said children are remarkably resilient and bounce back from health issues and trauma quickly.
The inquiry is now set to resume on Friday with the last day of testimony before a long break until March 18 for closing arguments.
