Abbotsford Regional Hospital may have discharged a patient too soon.
A 56-year-old woman, Mary Louise Murphy, checked into the hospital's emergency ward overnight on Jan. 30 because she was in pain.
Her adoptive son, Andrew Grimeau, said his mother waited several hours before finally being able to see someone. The doctor gave her a shot of morphine for muscle spasms and sent her home.
Within a day of leaving the hospital, Murphy died.
"I saw her hours before she passed away," Grimeau said. "I feel lost. I'm in this world without a lady I would call mom."
Her son fears Murphy was let down by the hospital.
"When symptoms and everything started to get worse… did she have anywhere to call? I don't feel so," Grimeau said.
The questions about Murphy's care come as the Fraser Health Authority and B.C. Coroners Service are currently investigating a similar story involving a three-year-old girl.
Nimrat Gill's family checked her into the hospital on Feb. 6. only to be told to take the little girl home and treat her with over-the-counter painkillers.
They brought her back the very next day after her condition got worse, and she died shortly after in hospital. Tests have since confirmed she was suffering from pneumonia, her family said.
"What I'm hoping is that these are two very isolated incidents that happen to be related," said Dr. Roy Morton, vice-president of medicine for Fraser Health. "That's what our further investigation will try to sort through to determine."
The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating both incidents.