Following the despicable theft perpetrated against a fatally ill woman at a Toronto hospital, there is, as well as outrage, an understandable sense that something must be done to better protect the vulnerable in such settings. Of course, much can be done. More vigorous security measures can be adopted, requiring all visitors to state their purpose and to show photo identification; more security guards can be hired; and barriers can be built. But such steps would come at a cost to visitor access and place new demands on already heavily burdened hospitals. The better question, then, is whether anything should be done.
The victim in this case, Edna Davis, an 83-year-old cancer patient, had $7,000 in jewellery stolen while she lay unconscious on her deathbed. Two men entered the hospital and went through her possessions while relatives briefly left her bedside. She died a short time later. Marcos Marinoni, 26, and Isaac Lewkowicz, 29, face criminal charges.
It's enough that Ms. Davis' family had to cope with her passing; the knowledge that in her final minutes she was made a victim of crime must have aggravated their sorrow.
This patient-as-crime-victim case stands in contrast to another high-profile hospital security incident in Toronto, in January, where a patient is accused of being the perpetrator. A paralyzed man was caught in a drug sting at a coffee shop in the hospital. Besides various drugs, a loaded 9-mm, semi-automatic handgun was found in a sock in his hospital room.
Obviously, such security breaches are a concern, but the questions of how much visitor access should be restricted, and how thoroughly patient privacy should be intruded upon by hospital staff are important ones. Both alleged crimes could have been prevented, had hospital staff carefully screened the possessions of patients. There is no obvious need for expensive jewellery in hospital, and a search of possessions would surely have revealed a handgun and a large quantity of drugs in the other case.
But hospitals need to respect patients' dignity, and to a certain extent their autonomy. Even in a hospital room, there is a right to privacy. Warnings can be posted, but ultimately hospitals have to respect the judgment of patients and their families. Also, the ability to receive visitors is critical to patients' well-being - not only family, but also other well-wishers, within reasonable limits such as posted visiting hours. These cases, troubling though they are, are best dealt with by the criminal justice system, not by costly and intrusive new security measures.