When lawyers for Vancouver General Hospital and 12-year-old Ximena Renaerts agreed to an out-of-court settlement on the eve of a trial in Miss Renaerts' wrongful-injury civil suit against the hospital, counsel for VGH may well have breathed a sigh of relief. That is because the still-secret May 29 settlement, even though likely amounting to millions of dollars, spared VGH the ignominy of having the public hear allegations of how medical staff at the hospital had left Ximena to die after she was born alive, whimpering and gasping for air after a failed abortion.

Instead of being off the hook, however, the hospital has been thrust into the hot seat. The B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Registered Nurses Association of B.C. and the Vancouver Police Department are all probing the case, the latter with an eye to launching a criminal investigation. Furthermore, Vancouver pro-life activists have begun calling for criminal charges, which could involve anything from child abandonment to attempted murder.

The police department's major crime unit began its review after B.C. Liberal justice critic Geoff Plant urged Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh to examine whether criminal charges should be laid. Mr. Dosanjh turned the matter over to assistant deputy attorney general Ernie Quantz, who passed it to Vancouver police Chief Bruce Chambers. "We are in the process of reviewing the situation to see whether or not there is a requirement or any necessity to launch an investigation," says department spokesman Constable Anne Drennan. "There has been no decision made at this point." The College of Physicians and Surgeons is also in the preliminary stages of its probe, as is the nurses' association. "All I can tell you at this point in time is that it's under review," says RNABC spokesman Gabrielle Moore.

Their deliberate approach reflects the fact the case is an explosive one. Pretrial evidence revealed that, when Ximena was born 11 to 14 weeks prematurely in December 1985 VGH had no policy on abortion survivors. The evidence suggests that, contrary to Canadian law, VGH staff considered Ximena to be a non-person simply because she was unwanted; she was placed in a bucket and left for half an hour in a room where fetal remains were stored. Evidence also led to the conclusion that the staff's neglect caused brain damage that left Ximena with the mental capacity of a three-year-old.

The controversy over her treatment is not the first of its kind. A May 1986 Vancouver Sun story reported that several B.C. children had survived attempted abortions over the previous two decades, and some were left to die. "We were supposed to turn the other way," said nurse Kathryn Larouche. "We weren't supposed to do anything. There were a couple of people...I don't want to say who. They told us, 'Don't do anything. Leave it alone. It will die.'"

This record helps explain why pro-life activists were so quick to demand criminal charges. Cecilia von Dehn, a Vancouver nurse, has led several small protests over the past two months at VGH, Mr. Dosanjh's office, the headquarters of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Cambie Street detachment of the police department. "Ximena is definitely not the only one [left to die at VGH]," Mrs. von Dehn says, adding that she thinks charges should be laid against VGH medical staff. "I'm particularly concerned about the nurses. The nurses saw the baby and they didn't do anything."

Questions about the case were faxed by BC Report to the VGH two weeks ago, but at press time remained unanswered (see page 28). That is likely because the hospital is engaged in a cover-up, suggests Ted Gerk, communications director of the Pro-Life Society of B.C. Mr. Gerk says it is no coincidence that VGH president Murray Martin recently asked the Ministry of the Attorney General for a no-protest "bubble zone" around its surgical daycare, ostensibly to protect patients from anti-abortion demonstrations. Mr. Gerk alleges the request is in response to Mrs. von Dehn's circulation of literature about the Ximena case.

"Obviously for Mr. Martin and members of the medical staff, the embarrassment of having such a tragic case brought to light is bothering their conscience. As well it should. But covering up this and other alleged episodes will not make the issue go away," he says. "Neither will banning pro-lifers from telling patients what has gone on inside VGH." BCR