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Hon. Danny Williams

Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador

Confederation Bldg.

Prince Philip Parkway

St. John’s, NL. Canada, A1B 3V6

Personal, but not confidential.

Dear Mr. Premier:

Re: Citizen’s Representative File # 37CF02 of Judith Day, and the Justice system of Newfoundland and Labrador under T. Alex Hickman, a former chief Justice.

I, Judith Day was informed by Mr. Barry Fleming, Citizen’s representative, by letter dated April 9, 2009 that a formal investigation that was launched in accordance with the Citizen’s Representative Act , section 24(d) in 2002, regarding my complaint against my employer at that time, the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, will not be reopened.

The complaint was filed with Mr. Fraser March, in May 2002, when he was Citizen’s Representative in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was a separate issue from my complaints to the Medical board, of medical malpractice, negligence, resulting in harm, which went through the justice system.

Without my knowledge, this complaint was shelved in 2006 by Mr. Robert Jenkins, then acting citizen’s representative, when the office was reopened four years after Mr. March’s dismissal.

I wrote Mr. Fleming and sent a copy to Mr. Ross Wiseman to express my disappointment and concern with that decision not to pursue this matter, as I thought that some very important questions can be objectively compiled, asked and answered. This was a separate matter from my complaint and lawsuit, as it concerned violations of my human rights by my employer, the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s.

After Mr. Fleming did not handle my claim against my employer, as a separate issue, I wrote Justice Minister Marshall on the matter of the injustice that I had received in the courts during my medical malpractice lawsuit, and claimed that physicians had perjured themselves during my trial. I received a letter from Mr. Herder of the minister’s office who advised me to contact the police force with my complaint and have it investigated by them.

. After that, I let the matter of my injustice rest as I thought it was time to give up my quest for justice and move on. But I can’t, as something else always seems to crop up to urge me on in my “quest for justice”.

This summer, during my semi-annual trip back to St. John’s NL from Fredericton, NB, I learned about the Byron Pryor Case and have become very interested in “his” fight for justice as the people involved with his case parallel with mine.

Your law firm represented Byron Pryor before you became Premier and now Byron has been reduced to being unable to obtain another firm, due to the high profile of Mr. T. Alex Hickman, the accused pedophile, who, according to Mr. Pryor, supposedly raped and impregnated an eleven year old child, his sister, some forty years ago. Byron, now in his fifties, insists that at the age of fourteen, he witnessed the events leading up to and after that atrocity.

Mr. T. Alex Hickman is retired now from the helm as Chief Justice. The judge who was presiding over my trial, Mr. Ray Halley, was appointed “acting” chief justice during that time and now is retired on a substantial pension.

Mr. Halley’s promotion certainly increased his income a great deal when he retired, after, in my case, making a ridiculous decision, by not charging Dr. Karagianis and Dr. Craig with medical malpractice for the physiological damage they did to me, proven by medical tests and supported by many specialists.

The infamous Dr. Craig now has diagnosed Byron Pryor as “delusional” and the court has remanded a perfectly mentally competent, according to the test results of five specialists, (evidence that the presiding judge, David Orr ignored), to spend three months inside the Waterford Hospital under psychiatric evaluation being monitored and assessed by Dena Orr, Justice David Orr’s wife. Isn’t this a conflict of interest?

I believe this is another example of the incompetence and corruptness of the courts of Newfoundland and Labrador and it is time it is investigated by professionals outside the province.
I have already one letter on file somewhere that I wrote to the courts following a mini-trial during my lawsuit with Justice Leo Barry, This mini-trial was a total atrocity of justice, as I saw it at the time, and I expressed my concerns in writing.

Mr. Williams, you are the head of the province now as premier’ and it is time you took some action regarding the injustice that has been done to me for ten years, Mr. Bryon Pryor for the past forty and many others who have fallen by the wayside, not to mention the Hughes and other inquiries that were held in Newfoundland and Labrador during the past thirty years or more under Chief Justice T. Alex Hickman.

You say that money is not your motive to work as hard as you do, for our province and its people. If that is the case, and you are truly altruistic, then it is time that you come to the aid of both of us and all others who have been struggling for justice long enough and justice should be possible, in such a beautiful and free province and country.

I did not go to the police and request an investigation into the illegal doings of physicians, namely perjury, but I was advised to do so, by the minister of justice’s office, in a letter received from David Herder.

In this case as in others, I believe that would be a complete waste of time and money for an under funded force who really have their hands tied anyway, as is evident in Byron Prior’s case and others.

Besides, I have already been roughed up by a police officer last summer while driving across the island of Newfoundland during a publicly announced, in a marked car, road tour for the National ME/FM Action Network. I am the director for the Atlantic provinces of that network and was on official business, when I was stopped for supposedly speeding.

I, on behalf of the network was doing a road tour, advocating the importance of medical standards being set for physicians who are involved in independent medical examinations and their reports that are written for insurance companies and the courts.

Throughout my road tour, I was deliberately driving below 100 km to save on gas expenses, but had picked up speed, approximately 110kms, coming down a steep hill, with many lanes, and no traffic, outside of Springdale and got stopped by a lone police officer, who treated me harshly. I do not get intimidated easily, but his actions frightened me.

I filed an objection to the ticket and complaint with Grand Falls/ Windsor, but withdrew it and paid the fine, as it would be my word against the officer’s, and what judge would believe me over a police officer? Even though I know for sure that police officers lie on the witness stand as I had witnessed that in Harbour Grace Court, in 1993 during a criminal trial against my previous husband that also involved police brutality, when he was beaten up by them and denied medical treatment in jail.

At least at the time, my husband and I received an apology from the Commissioner of RCMP after I had filed a formal complaint of that police brutality and it was investigated. I was impressed by the complaints commission at the time and it solidified in me the importance of speaking out when I believe injustice is being done.

Besides, now I have much larger issues to get dealt with, so an unwarranted speeding ticket being issued to me is very trivial. I paid the fine and it was forgotten. But the thought is coming back now. Was I being harassed? Or was it a coincidence? I was certainly stopped and bullied by a police officer who hid behind sunglasses.

According to Mr. Pryor’s association with police and their reports, nothing gets done, in high profile cases, anyway. It is up to the justice system and the government to handle these serious matters, when high ranking people, like doctors, lawyers, and judges are involved.

Last summer, when I arrived in St. John’s, I scheduled a meeting with Dr. Robert Young, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, but when I appeared at the office, I was told by the secretary that he was busy and for me to leave a note, which I did.

I left information, on the matter of the importance of independent medical assessments, for Dr. Young, but I did not receive any response.

We, as a national network, have been advocating professional standards for medical experts for years, as many patients continue to suffer from adverse written reports by supposedly independent medical examiners, whoare highly paid for their adverse reporting to suit the needs of insurance companies or defendants of medical malpractice, as in my lawsuit.

Personally, I just want to have the doctors, who lied during my trial investigated and brought to justice. Judge Halley knew one of them had lied as I presented the evidence to support that, but the document that I had received from that physician’s lawyer, was supposedly privileged information between a lawyer and his client. I learned quite early during my trial that “what is legal is not necessarily just”.

In my case, many of Judge Halley’s decisions were erroneous and unjust and now I understand why. I believe he was given a much greater incentive by Chief Justice T. Alex Hickman to rule against me, to be promoted as acting chief justice and was in anticipation of a huge retirement pension. I believe he retired shortly after my case was finished.

At least Judge Halley, in his decision, had enough compassion for me not to award the defense their costs, but the court of appeal overturned that decision, which resulted in my bankruptcy. In Judge Halley’s decision, he wrote, “Due to the circumstances of this case no costs will be awarded.” I guess that cleared his conscience regarding his decision to rule in favor of physicians who were negligent and caused me harm.

I filed an appeal. Hon. Clyde Wells, Chief of Court of Appeal was the spokesperson for that appeal. He appeared objective and I felt that he had listened. He was only one of three judges who decided against me and that costs would be awarded to the defense, as I lost the cross-appeal for costs as well. Again, for whatever reason, justice was not served.

During that appeal, Judge Halley, the trial judge should have been asked to explain what circumstances he was referring to as any judge would have known Judge Halley did not mean “financial.” Every lawyer and judge would be aware of the court rules that clearly state. “Financial circumstance” is not a reason not to deny a party costs.

Going back to the beginning of my serious accusations of negligence and violation of my human rights against two psychiatrists and The Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, which was my employer as well, I filed a complaint re my treatment as an employee, with Mr. Fraser March, who was the first citizen’s representative, newly appointed at that time in 2002.

Before anything was accomplished for me, Mr. March was relieved of his duties for supposed misappropriation of funds, which, I believe, is still being investigated and no charges were laid. In my opinion, Mr. March is a decent and honest man and I do not think he deserved that insult.

At the time of my complaint to Mr. March, he had suggested in a letter to me that he would hire a private investigator, as it had been in other cases like mine, across Canada.

This action suggested by the citizen’s representative’s office may have been the break I needed to help me obtain positive answers and results. But instead, Mr. March was fired and my complaint, against my employer, closed. It is presently in a vault, where it has been since 2006. Mr. Barry Fleming, presiding Citizen’s Representative, in 2009, has decided not to reopen.

I had pursued this alleged injustice and violation of my human rights for over nine years and reached a glass ceiling when the Supreme Court of Canada denied my application to have my case heard there. My civil actions in the courts have failed after I went to the highest level of this country, The Supreme Court of Canada.

I guess the three Supreme Court of Canada judges who assessed my application to appeal could never believe that there could possibly be so many violations of one’s civil rights and ignored by the establishment. After all, my case had gone through the supposed proper channels of a provincial court system in Newfoundland and Labrador for nine years.

This past year, I again saw a flickering light at the end of this long and torturous tunnel, when I had received correspondence from the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses’ Union, NLNU informing me that my grievance, which I had filed November 10, 1999, was still ongoing and the Health Care Corporation of St John’s (HCCSJ) wanted closed, in my favor.

I did not want the file closed as again the evidence that I was unjustly maligned by the management of the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, including the medical director, Dr. James Karagianis, would be lost.

This correspondence with the NLNU prompted me to inquire in writing about my complaint to the citizen’s representative that I had filed in 2002, which had been inactive since then.

I learned just this past summer that the citizen representative’s office had been reopened, in 2006, some years after the dismissal of Mr. Fraser March. I was not informed of that event as my contact information became outdated. I was not aware that my complaint was closed and vaulted by Mr. Jenkins, acting citizen’s representative, when the office was reopened in 2006.

After correspondence with Mr. Barry Fleming, Citizen’s Representative, this past summer of 2009, the decision was made by him that the complaint would remain closed and vaulted.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses’ Union has since closed my grievance with the Health Care corporation after the matter was settled in my favor, but this action to close my file was against my will as the charges claimed against me, by a physician, were very serious and unwarranted.

The results of an independent investigation into my allegations of violation of my civil rights by the Health Care Corporation, my workplace, as Mr. March had wanted to do, may have benefited me from having to endure the humility and losses that I have had, including my professional status, in the name of being labeled mentally incompetent as Mr. Byron Pryor has just been, by the same psychiatrist, Dr. Craig, who was one of two psychiatrists I sued for medical incompetence.

I was administered drugs by Dr. Craig that nearly cost me my life. Dr. David Craig has had many complaints, approximately twenty two, filed against him by patients and he is still allowed to practice medicine in that province, by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Presently Dr. Craig is practicing on the inmates at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary, which is now on a lock down for undisclosed reasons. There was an article in the Telegram a month ago where Dr. Lahda, a very well respected forensic psychiatrist with the courts, disagreed with Dr. Craig’s treatment of the inmates.

In my case, Dr. Lahda did not testify for the defense as was planned, even though he was on the defense’s witness list to be called. I have often wondered why?

Did Dr. Lahda refuse to testify on behalf of the physicians because he had gleaned knowledge of my accurate medical history, the misdiagnosis and maltreatment, and could not honestly support their defense?

Now I hear that Dr. Lahda, is not assessing Mr. Pryor anymore, but another psychiatrist Dr. Lynch has been appointed. Is this because Dr. Lahda feels Mr. Pryor is mentally competent as well and should be discharged, as he possibly felt I was misdiagnosed and maltreated by Dr. Craig as well?

Being labeled with a mental illness is the number one way that supposed trouble makers and whistle blowers are silenced. Once one’s credibility is in question, nobody listens to what he/she has to say anymore, “forever”. Please help me change that and assist to eliminate the medical hit men, especially psychiatrists, who are allowed to continue to practice this form of medicine, which is so subjective, and can be lethal.

I survived a very toxic assault on my body through the forceful administration of very potent drugs at high dosages for my biochemical make-up. I could have died. I lived.

Yes I lived, but I live with the stigma of being labeled to this day, which has stifled me considerably. Also, I cannot remain silent as the issues are too serious and will continue to happen, if people don’t speak out. Perhaps, finally someday, somebody will pay attention to those injustices and things will change for the better and psychiatrist will not have the power to ruin peoples’ lives as they do today.

I can give many examples of how being labeled with a mental illness, thus considered incompetent, has negatively impacted my life and will continue to do so forever, especially when I remain stable and mentally competent and have been for the past eleven years, since I have discontinued the prescribed medication that made me so ill, nearly killed me, and caused permanent damage to my brain, thyroid and heart.

Before that assault and battery on my body by psychiatrists, I led a normal, successful life. My contribution to health care and my extensive knowledge that I had acquired through thirty years of nursing practice and education were destroyed by medical incompetence and powerful people practicing hegemony. I am not the first person that this has happened to and Byron Pryor won’t be the last.

The erroneous information that was placed on my file at the Health Science Centre, May 15, 1995, eg, “Bipolar, Manic, had several admissions before for same.” was erroneous and has ruined my life. Dr. Karagianis treated a diagnosis, not a person and Dr. Craig took over from him, against my wishes, and continued the maltreatment, and cover-up, when he should have investigated further for another diagnosis, considering I was so seriously ill, with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple chemical intolerance. FM/CFS/MCI.

I pray that this documented false information was obtained and written May 15, 1995, in error, not out of vindictiveness, or a means of ridding me from my job as Quality Control Coordinator in the operating room at the Health Science Centre. I could not imagine anybody being so cruel, but it does happen in many disciplines. I will never know for sure, as it was never properly investigated.

This clerical written error, “bipolar Manic, had several admissions before for same” was the beginning of almost three years of hell, when I was placed in a psychiatric trap, injured by medical treatment, and lost everything that was important to me, my career, my credibility, my financial independence, my relationships with my siblings, and most importantly, my health, due to neuro toxicity from prescribed psychotropic drugs that were wrong for me, forced on me, and caused permanent neurological- endocrinological damage, proven by medical tests, which were presented to the courts by specialists, which Judge Halley ignored and ruled that the diagnosis was correct and the medical treatment was appropriate.

When I was following the investigation of the botched oncology testing at the Health Care Corporation, On many occasions, the thought of my illegal and unfair elimination from their system, did enter my mind., especially when the Health Care Corporation tried to have the courts order that the evidence of the retesting was privileged, under the auspices of “quality control”, especially, when there was no system set up for the labs in the first place.

I believe I was eliminated from my job as Quality Control Coordinator as I was reporting deficiencies in operating rooms, managed by the Health Care Corporation, which were very serious at the time and could have had negative consequences for the newly formed corporation of which Dr. Karagianis was the newly appointed medical director. Is that a consequence or a coincidence?

The inaccurate information, “bipolar, manic, had many admissions before for same”, was written on my file by a ward clerk that day in May 15, 1995, in the Health Sciences Emergency and I was transferred by “cab” without being medicated, to the Waterford Hospital as I was told there were no beds available at the Health Science Centre, and I would be transferred back as soon as there was a bed available. ( One specialist for the defense testified that it would have been highly unusual for a patient to be transferred by cab, without being medicated if mania was the diagnosis.)

I thought I would be treated exactly the same as if I had been admitted to Health Science Centre as I had questioned that detail, and was told that all the hospitals were incorporated and following the same policies. This was not the case as I learned very quickly.

I was certified upon admission and was locked up for six weeks, with a completely normal mental status, except no insight into having bipolar disorder. My physical symptoms of profound fatigue, confusion, sinus infection, abnormal thyroid testing were ignored.

Where the information of a diagnosis of bipolar disorder originated was never investigated properly and that misdiagnosis has ruined my career, credibility and my health.

After I presented my evidence, in the courtroom, of misdiagnosis and maltreatment by Dr. Karagianis, the medical director of Health Care Corporation and Dr. Craig, Chief of Psychiatry, the defense filed a non-suit, but it was denied by Judge Halley as I had enough evidence to go to trial. At that time Judge Halley seemed to have a handle on the case and the negligence that had occurred.

I had presented enough evidence to prove my case, but I eventually lost the lawsuit as The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Judge Halley’s decision was not to accept my family doctor’s, other medical specialists’, my medical expert’s, and my own testimony, but to accept the defense’s expert opinion only, which was given months later, based on the proven erroneous information written on my medical records. This was wrong as the main expert Dr. Pearce lacked credibility and was biased and untruthful.

Dr. Pearce, the defense’s expert, gave the exact opposite opinion of my medical expert. Dr. Stein. Dr. Pearce’s credibility was tainted many times from prejudicial and biased testimony that he had given in Alberta on more than a few occasions.

I presented Dr. Pearce’s controversarisal cases, but Judge Halley ignored those facts and accepted Dr. Pearce’s testimony as correct and credible. It was not.

Dr. Lahda who was supposed to have been called by the defense was not called. I would have called him myself, if I had known he was not going to be called, as his opinions were always so objective and well received and respected by the court.

In Bryon Pryor’s case, the judge accepted Dr. Craig’s evidence over five medical experts who had tested Mr. Pryor, and stated he was not “delusional” and was not mentally ill, now Dr. Lahda is off Bryon Pryor’s case as well, again another similarity with my injustice.

In my case, there was another psychiatrist who perjured himself in the courtroom as well, Dr. Jain:

Dr. Jain, psychiatrist, a former employee of the Health Science Centre, who had moved to London, Ontario, a witness called by me, believing he would tell the truth; testified that he had diagnosed me with bipolar disorder in 1983, but did not tell my family, or me, or record it on my medical records, because, according to him, he wanted to protect my job. Can you imagine the consequences of that irrational decision, if that were true? Dr. Jain lied. He never had diagnosed me with bipolar disorder.

This action, of withholding information from the patient, etc. in itself should have been deemed malpractice by Dr. Jain, if I had suffered from a mental illness, I should have been told, treated, and it should have been recorded on my medical records.

I should not have been in charge as Clinical Coordinator, Operating Room for thirteen years during 1983 to 1995, and receiving no treatment for the second most serious mental illness in Psychiatry, if indeed I did have bipolar disorder for all those years.

This information that Dr. Jain presented to the court was wrong and there is no evidence anywhere on my medical files, before May 15, 1995, that I was suffering from a mental illness. If a physician actually made a diagnosis and had not recorded it, as Dr. Jain said he had done, this definitely would be unethical, immoral and illegal.

Dr. Jain lied on the stand as he had told me personally in 1997 that he had never diagnosed me with bipolar disorder, nor, according to his written report, did I exhibit any symptoms of bipolar disorder from 1983 to 1995, after my first episode of drug induced toxicity while being ill with sinusitis and bronchitis and placed under his care for observation and treatment. I was actually suffering from undiagnosed FM/CFS/MCI.

The proof exists that at least two physicians lied during my trial, and I paid the price. Perjury is a criminal offence. The judge knew for sure one did, but ignored this fact and considered the evidence privileged, when I presented the letter, given to me by his lawyer, which proved that he did indeed lie.

If you want more information, you may have a copy of the medical expert Dr. Stein’s psychiatric report, who spent over three hours a day for five days interviewing me, plus reviewing my complete medical history before she agreed to be my medical expert witness as her credibility would have been on the line, if I had been a crank.

Byron Pryor had the same psychological testing in Ontario and was found mentally stable as well.

My medical expert, Dr. Stein’s opinion was objective, non-biased and factual. Her written report was not accepted as evidence, by Judge Halley, as he considered her biased and acting as an advocate, which she was not.

Dr. Stein had nothing to gain by her writing a report of my medical mismanagement. She was on the witness stand for five days and stated in court that she owed it to her profession of psychiatry to right the wrong that had been done to me, so I could receive financial compensation.

I was denied justice by Judge Halley, the trial Judge..

The trial judge, Judge Halley, only ruled on the diagnosis and treatment. “The diagnosis was correct, therefore the treatment,” was correct”. This treatment also included blatant illegal confinement from May 15, 1995 to June 19, 1995 in the Waterford Hospital for nothing more than the fact that I had no insight into having a mental illness of bipolar disorder. How could I have insight, if I had never been informed or experienced the symptoms of that second most serious mental disorder, next to schizophrenia?

I wrote a journal during that illegal confinement that will be written in a book to be published in 2010 called Judging Judi, My Quest for Justice.

After Judge Halley’s decision against me, I filed an appeal, but lost that. I lost a cross-appeal by the defense for costs, and was now ordered by the court of appeal to pay the defense their costs.

I have often wondered if Mr. March had not been relieved of his duties, and if there had been an investigation of the Health Care Corporation, as was initiated by him, would the outcome of my injustice have been different.

This is the same Health Care Corporation that tried so hard to cover up the botched oncology testing a few years ago, but failed, and is now being sued millions of dollaqrs for incompetence. People did lose their lives over those incidents.

I believe what happened to me, which destroyed my nursing career, began as a written error, by a ward clerk, on my chart, May 15, 1995 and this negatively impacted my care and treatment.

In my case, many mistakes happened and were covered up by the Health Care Corporation and the Canadian Medical Protective Association. For ten years during the trial, I had never been found not telling the truth or have never had any symptoms of bipolar disorder. The truth did not prevail.

Because my lawsuit concerned a supposed mental illness, I could not obtain legal representation as no lawyer would take my case, on a contingency basis, so I represented myself. I was denied justice in the Supreme Court of Canada as my application was declined.

To add insult to injury, I was ordered by the Court of Appeal in Newfoundland and Labrador to pay the medical defense’s cost of $170,000, which landed me into bankruptcy, where I am still, as I write.

The charges that I had filed against the Canadian Medical Protective Association, (CMPA) and the HCCSJ are finished; the complaint I filed with the citizen’s representative was vaulted; the grievance with the Health Care Corporation, which I filed with the Newfoundland and Labrador nurses’ union was closed in my favor, without a hearing, but I will continue my pursuit for justice and longing for what is right and good. I still have faith that justice will prevail, even if it is poetic.

You know Bryon Pryor’s case as you represented him. I pray you will see the injustice done to both him and me and have it in your conscience to order a public inquiry into these serious matters.

Bryon Pryor had police investigations: I did not, but the only person who can see these cases receive the justice that has been delayed in Byron’s case and denied in mine, is You.

I believe in you. You have the power now, and you know the truth. I hope that you will take the time to study this lengthy letter and find it in your conscience to act accordingly.

As the late Lord Alfred Thompson Denning so eloquently said as he addressed the court, Justice should be blind to favor or prejudice, but clear to see which way the truth lies”.

Yours truly,

Judith Day

280 Dunn’s Crossing

Fredericton, NB

Canada, E3B 2A6

email jmld@nb.sympatico.ca.

c.c. Legal Advocate,

Ms. Andrea Benns

abenns@telus.net.

c.c. Mr. Bill Rowe

VOCM Open Line

bill.rowe@vocm.com