Nunavut family speaks out after 8-year-old given tuberculosis medication meant for another child
CBC
When Jaffar Gebara found out that his eight-year-old daughter was being given medication for sleeping tuberculosis at her school, he was shocked.
Even more shocking was that his daughter didn't have tuberculosis.
"I'm sad that I let my daughter down and I wasn't told about this or given any consent," said Gebara. "I'm the parent and ... they gave her medication without informing me and continued to do so behind a parent's back."
Gebara said his daughter was given five doses of tuberculosis medication from a public health assistant at Joamie Ilinniarvik School during a screening clinic last year. The doses were administered from October to December.
His family wasn't notified until January, he said.
Gebara said his daughter did not experience any any visible or immediate side effects from the medication.
Tuberculosis rates in Nunavut are the highest in the country, with several communities still experiencing active outbreaks. The rate of tuberculosis among Inuit in Canada is nearly 300 times higher than for Canadian-born, non-Indigenous people.
In an email addressed to Gebara and his partner, Nicole Etitiq, that was obtained by CBC News, Iqaluit Public Health (IPH) manager Jenny Begin acknowledged the five doses had been given to their child in error.
"The manager of Public Health was notified that a child had received TB medications intended for another child. The manager then met with the TB physician to review and discuss the incident," Begin wrote.
Begin wrote that she first found out about the incident on Jan. 17 and discussed the incident with the tuberculosis physician.
The next day, according to Begin's email, an internal investigation was completed in consultation with Joamie School and the tuberculosis team at IPH and Gebara and Etitiq were notified.
Gebara and Etitiq said they should have been notified by IPH as soon as the health authority found out.
They met with IPH the day after, who offered a medical evaluation with the tuberculosis physician. During the meeting, Etitiq said the assistant who delivered the medication did not verify Gebara's daughter's birthday and was told by IPH that the assistant met with Gebara's daughter for less than 10 minutes before giving the medication.
"How can you say that you have a rapport with a child in that short amount of time?" said Etitiq.
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