Northern nurse convicted in patient's death gets parole

FORT FRANCES — A former nurse imprisoned earlier this year for her role in the death of a 76-year-old hospital patient has been granted parole.

The Parole Board of Canada made the decision following a hearing Tuesday for Lindsey Coyle, according to a report Wednesday in the Fort Frances Times.

Coyle was sentenced in January to two years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing death.

While she was working as a registered practical nurse at La Verendrye Hospital in Fort Frances in 2015, she altered the morphine prescription for Hermina Fletcher in order to steal the medication for her personal use.

The dosage was not corrected, causing Fletcher to receive twice the amount of morphine she was supposed to get, and she died soon after.  

A forensic pathologist testified that, on a balance of probabilities, she succumbed to acute morphine toxicity.

The Times reports that Coyle will be released from the Grand Valley Institution for Women in September, and be allowed to serve the rest of her sentence at home in Fort Frances.

She will be under strict conditions to abstain from drugs and alcohol, abide by a curfew, and avoid any contact with the victims of her crime.

A parole board spokesperson told Dougall Media it can take up to 15 days for board members to write their full decision, after which it can be released upon request.

In May of this year, a court ordered Coyle to pay Fletcher's estate $130,000 in damages after Fletcher's survivors filed a civil lawsuit against her.

Coyle failed to serve a defence against the suit.