QUOTE OF THE DAY: " “I don’t believe in coincidences,” (Anita( Szigeti (his lawyer) told the Star after the ORB hearing." “My own view is that the intense public scrutiny that resulted from the media coverage, coupled with the wide-ranging nature and depth of this report, have caused the institution to focus an enormous amount of attention and care on Andrew Azevedo.”
---------------------------------
QUOTE TWO OF THE DAY: "His parents wrote that they are left to wonder what their son’s condition or quality of life might have been like over the past five years had he received the level of attention he’s getting now. “What we can do is make sure that what happened does not simply become forgotten because things are beginning to improve,” Jorge and Maria wrote, asking that the board continue questioning whether everything reasonably possible is being done to reduce Azevedo’s time in seclusion. “Most importantly, please do not allow years of seclusion to become normal again.”
--------------------------------------------
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Azevedo’s imminent release from seclusion could represent a major breakthrough at Waypoint, located on Georgian Bay in Penetanguishene; the hospital’s practice of keeping patients in isolation for years — and in at least one case, decades — has been the subject of an ongoing Toronto Star investigation, including a story in April focusing on Azevedo. Leading experts have described the hospital’s use of prolonged seclusion as “egregious,” “abusive” and unlike anything seen in other North American facilities."
------------------------------------------
STORY: "The Star exposed his five years in isolation at this Ontario psychiatric hospital. He’s suddenly set to be released from seclusion," by Jacques Gallant, published by The Toronto Star, on August 27, 2026. (Jacques Gallant is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering legal affairs and courts, after previously covering federal politics. He has been part of reporting teams nominated for a National Newspaper Award and the Michener Award for public service journalism.)
It was “hurtful,” Susan told the Star afterward, that the hospital hadn’t given the family a heads-up about its plan. Especially because she said the family has been working hard to collaborate with Waypoint and do what’s best for Azevedo.
She described Azevedo’s imminent de-seclusion as a “manipulation of the board” and a way for the hospital to show the ORB that there was no need for it to order Waypoint to do anything further.
“That led me to believe that their goal is not necessarily what’s best for Andrew at this time,” she said. “Their goal is to tell the board, ‘Hey, there’s nothing to see here, we’ve got this taken care of, he’s out of restraints, he’s out of seclusion, so let’s talk next year.’”
The creators of the internationally recognized best practices to reduce the use of seclusion, known as the six core strategies, told the Star that immediate release after years in confinement can be difficult and even scary for an individual. Doctors Kevin Ann Huckshorn and Janice LeBel endorsed a slow and gradual release.
We have seen Andrew smiling again.
Waypoint has said it’s been working to implement the six core strategies since 2023, but the hospital’s CEO, Dr. Nadiya Sunderji, has appeared to run afoul of the very first strategy: daily involvement by the CEO in seclusion decisions. Sunderji has said it would be inappropriate for her to do so under provincial health care legislation.
“I hope the preferences of this poor man are heard, responded to, and his comfort and needs guide the pace to basic humane care,” said LeBel. “That said, there is nothing about multi-year confinement that would ever pass muster with correct knowledge/implementation of the six core strategies.”
Huckshorn questioned the hospital’s motivation in de-secluding Azevedo, given that it’s only happening after the hospital’s seclusion practices have come under public scrutiny.
“It is very hard to know what the agenda is here, and I feel worried and sorry about this gentleman’s path,” she said.
Andrew Azevedo’s ‘miraculous recovery’
Azevedo’s family conveyed in their letters to the board ahead of the hearing that after years of raising concerns to the hospital about Azevedo’s deteriorating health, they only began to notice significant improvements in his behaviour following a June meeting with hospital staff, including Mishra.
Susan Azevedo said the Star investigation was the “elephant in the room” at that meeting, saying the family assumed that both the stories and Monteiro’s report were a “major factor” in the hospital putting together a new plan for Azevedo’s care.
In her letter to the board, she said the family was concerned with the suggestion that medication alone is the primary reason for Azevedo’s improvement, given his long history of poor response to many different drugs.
She said that the contribution of improved basic care, more activities and human engagement — all of which have been provided to Azevedo with greater frequency since June — cannot be discounted.
If these things can help Azevedo maintain his functioning and quality of life, “those things should not be treated as optional additions to his psychiatric treatment,” Susan wrote. “They are basic components of humane care.”
She wrote there is now “genuine public interest” in prolonged seclusion at Waypoint and “the systems responsible” for overseeing it.
“Andrew’s circumstances have been publicly reported, along with broader questions about long-term seclusion and oversight,” she wrote. “We believe transparency and independent scrutiny are important, not because our family seeks publicity, but because vulnerable patients such as Andrew are often unable to advocate for themselves.”
Jorge and Maria, who visit their son at Waypoint on a weekly basis, felt that for years, their concerns were ignored and no one at the hospital was seriously questioning how to get him out of seclusion.
“Before Andrew had the legal advocacy and outside attention he has now, his continued seclusion seemed to simply become accepted as normal,” they wrote in their letter to the ORB.
Waypoint said in a statement to the Star it can’t comment on individual cases due to patient confidentiality requirements; the hospital told the board in a report that where possible, it has tried to integrate Monteiro’s recommendations into Azevedo’s care plan.
Mishra attributed his patient’s significant improvement to gradual increases in the antipsychotic medication Haldol over the past few months; Azevedo had previously taken the drug but suffered from some of the side effects, which has not been the case this time, Mishra said.
Why he’s now doing so much better on Haldol compared to the last time isn’t clear, Mishra testified, saying his patient’s case is very complex.
“What is very clear is that he is now able to exercise control of his actions,” Mishra said.
As a result of the medication, Mishra said Azevedo has spent more time on “seclusion relief,” which means being escorted out of his room by staff to participate in activities like watching TV, listening to music, and visiting family.
He said the plan is to soon have him out of seclusion for good, “under constant observation” by one or two staff members.
“We are at that inflection point,” Mishra said.
At this, Szigeti was incredulous. She pointed out that at Azevedo’s previous ORB hearing just this past February, Mishra had conceded that Azevedo was in a “dire situation” and had not “held out much for hope” for an improvement.
Mishra replied that there had been some failed attempts with other medications — “We were going back to the drawing board and we had just restarted the Haldol.”
Fast forward to this summer, Szigeti said, and Azevedo is now suddenly so much better that he’s about to be released from isolation— “That’s a pretty miraculous recovery, wouldn’t you say?”
One psychiatrist who found himself agreeing that it was more than just the Haldol that helped Azevedo was Dr. Yedishtra Naidoo of St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, who had been tasked by Waypoint with conducting an external review of Azevedo’s seclusion status.
Initially, Naidoo believed that the medication was solely responsible for the “significant improvement” in Azevedo’s condition.
But when Naidoo came to testify before the ORB last Thursday, he said his conclusion had “expanded”: that while the medication had been effective, spending an increasing amount of time on seclusion relief had also had a positive effect on Azevedo’s behaviour by reducing stress and distress from being around other people.
“Both are important to ultimately getting this man back out of seclusion.”
Family want ‘meaningful safeguards’
Azevedo’s family knows that he’s very ill and needs to remain at Waypoint for now. They’re grateful that he’s doing much better, and are hoping that the changes the hospital has made will be permanent.
Being able to kick a soccer ball, visit the canteen, and listen to music “may appear insignificant,” Susan Azevedo wrote in her letter to the ORB.
“To our family, they are anything but insignificant. They are pieces of a life — and perhaps, with continued progress, pieces of a larger world that Andrew may someday be able to reconnect with.”
She wrote that the family recognizes there are very real safety considerations involved in Azevedo’s care, and they are not asking the ORB or the hospital to ignore those risks.
What they want, she said, is for the board to put “meaningful safeguards in place” to ensure that these “hard-won pieces of Andrew’s life” are protected and cannot be taken away again.
Before Andrew had the legal advocacy and outside attention he has now, his continued seclusion seemed to simply become accepted as normal.
“We are asking that safety not become the sole measure of whether Andrew is being adequately cared for,” she wrote. “After almost five years in seclusion, Andrew is finally getting back small pieces of a life outside the four walls of his room.”
His parents wrote that they are left to wonder what their son’s condition or quality of life might have been like over the past five years had he received the level of attention he’s getting now.
“What we can do is make sure that what happened does not simply become forgotten because things are beginning to improve,” Jorge and Maria wrote, asking that the board continue questioning whether everything reasonably possible is being done to reduce Azevedo’s time in seclusion.
“Most importantly, please do not allow years of seclusion to become normal again.""
----------------------------------
This story is part of 20 Years in Isolation, the Star’s ongoing investigation into the use of psychiatric seclusion at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. The Star’s initial four-part series on the hospital’s practices has been met with calls foran independent review of Ontario’s mental health system.
This story is part of 20 Years in Isolation, the Star’s ongoing investigation into the use of psychiatric seclusion at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. The Star’s initial four-part series on the hospital’s practices has been met with calls foran independent review of Ontario’s mental health system.
----------------------------------
GIST: "For nearly five years, Andrew Azevedo has spent every day living in isolation at Ontario’s only maximum-security psychiatric hospital.
Over the course of those five years, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care tried almost every antipsychotic medication on the 39-year-old man with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, but with little improvement noted. Waypoint continued to hold him in seclusion, citing persistent aggressive behaviour caused by his hallucinations.
And so his family was caught off guard last week when Azevedo’s psychiatrist declared that, after years without much progress, his patient is now suddenly so much better that he’s on the verge of being released from seclusion.
“Definitely in the next few days,” Dr. Achal Mishra testified before the Ontario Review Board (ORB). “Or a week or two weeks, provided the current progress is maintained.”
Azevedo’s imminent release from seclusion could represent a major breakthrough at Waypoint, located on Georgian Bay in Penetanguishene; the hospital’s practice of keeping patients in isolation for years — and in at least one case, decades — has been the subject of an ongoing Toronto Star investigation, including a story in April focusing on Azevedo.
Leading experts have described the hospital’s use of prolonged seclusion as “egregious,” “abusive” and unlike anything seen in other North American facilities.
Mishra was adamant that the significant improvement in Azevedo’s condition was entirely related to gradual increases in the dosage of one of his medications, a drug he had taken before without such positive effect being noted.
But Azevedo’s family and lawyer point to other significant changes made to his care plan by Waypoint on the heels of the Star’s investigation and a damning independent assessment prepared for the ORB: more effort has been made to establish a routine for showering, exercise and spending time outdoors. He’s met with a physiotherapist for an assessment, and a dietitian provided a nutritional review. The soccer-loving Azevedo has also been spending more time kicking a ball around outside, and he watched some games on TV during the World Cup.
“We have seen Andrew smiling again,” Azevedo’s parents, Jorge and Maria, told the ORB in a letter this month.
Already, Azevedo is being let out of his room for longer periods of time without restraints, including when he briefly attended the ORB hearing wearing a Cristiano Ronaldo jersey.
“I want to go home,” he said in a soft-spoken voice, mentioning he just wants to visit Portugal and play soccer. “All those good things.”
The proceedings were to determine whether Azevedo remains unfit to stand trial for allegedly assaulting a psychiatrist in 2022, and whether he should remain detained at Waypoint. All parties agree on those points.
“I want to go home,” Andrew Azevedo said before his lawyer Anita Szigeti, on the monitor, and the ORB panel.Alexandra Newbould illustration
But the board must also determine whether to order Waypoint to adopt any of the recommendations made in an independent assessment prepared by Andrea Monteiro in the most detailed public look inside Waypoint since the Star first reported Azevedo’s story.
Monteiro, who previously served in senior roles in the correctional system, concluded that Waypoint is violating its own seclusion policy, and that patients are being kept in conditions that the United Nations has “deemed to constitute torture” in similar settings.
She recommended gradually releasing Azevedo from seclusion, but in restraints, a comprehensive review of staffing levels on Azevedo’s unit, providing more recreational supports on the unit, hospital-specific training on seclusion mandatory for everyone from executives to front-line staff, and working with an expert to develop clearer rules for when someone is to be secluded.
Mishra said his patient's improvement had nothing to do with the Star’s investigation, when asked directly by Azevedo’s lawyer, Anita Szigeti, if the coverage had been the “impetus” for focusing more attention on getting her client out of seclusion.
“I mean, of course it impacted Waypoint; it was not something we would ignore,” he said of the stories. “But I don’t think it impacted on Mr. Azevedo’s treatment.”
Nor is Azevedo’s improvement connected to Monteiro’s report, Mishra said, which he described as “good reading,” but said she had made some very broad conclusions.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Szigeti told the Star after the ORB hearing.
“My own view is that the intense public scrutiny that resulted from the media coverage, coupled with the wide-ranging nature and depth of this report, have caused the institution to focus an enormous amount of attention and care on Andrew Azevedo.”
Read the 20 Years in Isolation seriesPart 1: The story of Camelott Hamblett and why he's spent two decades locked in a room alone at this Ontario psychiatric hospital
Part 2: This Ontario psychiatric hospital keeps some patients in isolation for years at a time. Why Waypoint is being called an ‘abusive’ outlier
Part 3: Why the Ontario Review Board kept Camelott Hamblett in seclusion for 20 years, without asking the right questions
Part 4: Their son has been ‘caged’ in this Ontario psychiatric hospital for nearly five years. Why public ‘shock and horror’ may mean new hope
From Wednesday: He was locked up — alone — for years. Now the hospital's use of isolation has been deemed akin to 'torture'
Your questions answered: Inside the 20 Years in Isolation series
Family concerned Waypoint is moving too fast
Shocked at what they heard during Mishra’s testimony, Azevedo’s family expressed concern to the ORB that the hospital is moving too quickly.
Out of seclusion and out of restraints imminently “feels like quite a leap,” his sister-in-law, Susan Azevedo, told the five-member panel via Zoom. “It feels like it’s going to set him up for failure.”
The family suggested a gradual release, which would first see Azevedo spending more time out of his room and out of restraints, but only with staff and not other patients — a trigger in the past for some of his aggressive behaviour.
GIST: "For nearly five years, Andrew Azevedo has spent every day living in isolation at Ontario’s only maximum-security psychiatric hospital.
Over the course of those five years, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care tried almost every antipsychotic medication on the 39-year-old man with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, but with little improvement noted. Waypoint continued to hold him in seclusion, citing persistent aggressive behaviour caused by his hallucinations.
And so his family was caught off guard last week when Azevedo’s psychiatrist declared that, after years without much progress, his patient is now suddenly so much better that he’s on the verge of being released from seclusion.
“Definitely in the next few days,” Dr. Achal Mishra testified before the Ontario Review Board (ORB). “Or a week or two weeks, provided the current progress is maintained.”
Azevedo’s imminent release from seclusion could represent a major breakthrough at Waypoint, located on Georgian Bay in Penetanguishene; the hospital’s practice of keeping patients in isolation for years — and in at least one case, decades — has been the subject of an ongoing Toronto Star investigation, including a story in April focusing on Azevedo.
Leading experts have described the hospital’s use of prolonged seclusion as “egregious,” “abusive” and unlike anything seen in other North American facilities.
Mishra was adamant that the significant improvement in Azevedo’s condition was entirely related to gradual increases in the dosage of one of his medications, a drug he had taken before without such positive effect being noted.
But Azevedo’s family and lawyer point to other significant changes made to his care plan by Waypoint on the heels of the Star’s investigation and a damning independent assessment prepared for the ORB: more effort has been made to establish a routine for showering, exercise and spending time outdoors. He’s met with a physiotherapist for an assessment, and a dietitian provided a nutritional review. The soccer-loving Azevedo has also been spending more time kicking a ball around outside, and he watched some games on TV during the World Cup.
“We have seen Andrew smiling again,” Azevedo’s parents, Jorge and Maria, told the ORB in a letter this month.
Already, Azevedo is being let out of his room for longer periods of time without restraints, including when he briefly attended the ORB hearing wearing a Cristiano Ronaldo jersey.
“I want to go home,” he said in a soft-spoken voice, mentioning he just wants to visit Portugal and play soccer. “All those good things.”
The proceedings were to determine whether Azevedo remains unfit to stand trial for allegedly assaulting a psychiatrist in 2022, and whether he should remain detained at Waypoint. All parties agree on those points.
“I want to go home,” Andrew Azevedo said before his lawyer Anita Szigeti, on the monitor, and the ORB panel.Alexandra Newbould illustration
But the board must also determine whether to order Waypoint to adopt any of the recommendations made in an independent assessment prepared by Andrea Monteiro in the most detailed public look inside Waypoint since the Star first reported Azevedo’s story.
Monteiro, who previously served in senior roles in the correctional system, concluded that Waypoint is violating its own seclusion policy, and that patients are being kept in conditions that the United Nations has “deemed to constitute torture” in similar settings.
She recommended gradually releasing Azevedo from seclusion, but in restraints, a comprehensive review of staffing levels on Azevedo’s unit, providing more recreational supports on the unit, hospital-specific training on seclusion mandatory for everyone from executives to front-line staff, and working with an expert to develop clearer rules for when someone is to be secluded.
Mishra said his patient's improvement had nothing to do with the Star’s investigation, when asked directly by Azevedo’s lawyer, Anita Szigeti, if the coverage had been the “impetus” for focusing more attention on getting her client out of seclusion.
“I mean, of course it impacted Waypoint; it was not something we would ignore,” he said of the stories. “But I don’t think it impacted on Mr. Azevedo’s treatment.”
Nor is Azevedo’s improvement connected to Monteiro’s report, Mishra said, which he described as “good reading,” but said she had made some very broad conclusions.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Szigeti told the Star after the ORB hearing.
“My own view is that the intense public scrutiny that resulted from the media coverage, coupled with the wide-ranging nature and depth of this report, have caused the institution to focus an enormous amount of attention and care on Andrew Azevedo.”
Read the 20 Years in Isolation seriesPart 1: The story of Camelott Hamblett and why he's spent two decades locked in a room alone at this Ontario psychiatric hospital
Part 2: This Ontario psychiatric hospital keeps some patients in isolation for years at a time. Why Waypoint is being called an ‘abusive’ outlier
Part 3: Why the Ontario Review Board kept Camelott Hamblett in seclusion for 20 years, without asking the right questions
Part 4: Their son has been ‘caged’ in this Ontario psychiatric hospital for nearly five years. Why public ‘shock and horror’ may mean new hope
From Wednesday: He was locked up — alone — for years. Now the hospital's use of isolation has been deemed akin to 'torture'
Your questions answered: Inside the 20 Years in Isolation series
Family concerned Waypoint is moving too fast
Shocked at what they heard during Mishra’s testimony, Azevedo’s family expressed concern to the ORB that the hospital is moving too quickly.
Out of seclusion and out of restraints imminently “feels like quite a leap,” his sister-in-law, Susan Azevedo, told the five-member panel via Zoom. “It feels like it’s going to set him up for failure.”
The family suggested a gradual release, which would first see Azevedo spending more time out of his room and out of restraints, but only with staff and not other patients — a trigger in the past for some of his aggressive behaviour.
It was “hurtful,” Susan told the Star afterward, that the hospital hadn’t given the family a heads-up about its plan. Especially because she said the family has been working hard to collaborate with Waypoint and do what’s best for Azevedo.
She described Azevedo’s imminent de-seclusion as a “manipulation of the board” and a way for the hospital to show the ORB that there was no need for it to order Waypoint to do anything further.
“That led me to believe that their goal is not necessarily what’s best for Andrew at this time,” she said. “Their goal is to tell the board, ‘Hey, there’s nothing to see here, we’ve got this taken care of, he’s out of restraints, he’s out of seclusion, so let’s talk next year.’”
The creators of the internationally recognized best practices to reduce the use of seclusion, known as the six core strategies, told the Star that immediate release after years in confinement can be difficult and even scary for an individual. Doctors Kevin Ann Huckshorn and Janice LeBel endorsed a slow and gradual release.
We have seen Andrew smiling again.
Waypoint has said it’s been working to implement the six core strategies since 2023, but the hospital’s CEO, Dr. Nadiya Sunderji, has appeared to run afoul of the very first strategy: daily involvement by the CEO in seclusion decisions. Sunderji has said it would be inappropriate for her to do so under provincial health care legislation.
“I hope the preferences of this poor man are heard, responded to, and his comfort and needs guide the pace to basic humane care,” said LeBel. “That said, there is nothing about multi-year confinement that would ever pass muster with correct knowledge/implementation of the six core strategies.”
Huckshorn questioned the hospital’s motivation in de-secluding Azevedo, given that it’s only happening after the hospital’s seclusion practices have come under public scrutiny.
“It is very hard to know what the agenda is here, and I feel worried and sorry about this gentleman’s path,” she said.
Andrew Azevedo’s ‘miraculous recovery’
Azevedo’s family conveyed in their letters to the board ahead of the hearing that after years of raising concerns to the hospital about Azevedo’s deteriorating health, they only began to notice significant improvements in his behaviour following a June meeting with hospital staff, including Mishra.
Susan Azevedo said the Star investigation was the “elephant in the room” at that meeting, saying the family assumed that both the stories and Monteiro’s report were a “major factor” in the hospital putting together a new plan for Azevedo’s care.
In her letter to the board, she said the family was concerned with the suggestion that medication alone is the primary reason for Azevedo’s improvement, given his long history of poor response to many different drugs.
She said that the contribution of improved basic care, more activities and human engagement — all of which have been provided to Azevedo with greater frequency since June — cannot be discounted.
If these things can help Azevedo maintain his functioning and quality of life, “those things should not be treated as optional additions to his psychiatric treatment,” Susan wrote. “They are basic components of humane care.”
She wrote there is now “genuine public interest” in prolonged seclusion at Waypoint and “the systems responsible” for overseeing it.
“Andrew’s circumstances have been publicly reported, along with broader questions about long-term seclusion and oversight,” she wrote. “We believe transparency and independent scrutiny are important, not because our family seeks publicity, but because vulnerable patients such as Andrew are often unable to advocate for themselves.”
Jorge and Maria, who visit their son at Waypoint on a weekly basis, felt that for years, their concerns were ignored and no one at the hospital was seriously questioning how to get him out of seclusion.
“Before Andrew had the legal advocacy and outside attention he has now, his continued seclusion seemed to simply become accepted as normal,” they wrote in their letter to the ORB.
Waypoint said in a statement to the Star it can’t comment on individual cases due to patient confidentiality requirements; the hospital told the board in a report that where possible, it has tried to integrate Monteiro’s recommendations into Azevedo’s care plan.
Mishra attributed his patient’s significant improvement to gradual increases in the antipsychotic medication Haldol over the past few months; Azevedo had previously taken the drug but suffered from some of the side effects, which has not been the case this time, Mishra said.
Why he’s now doing so much better on Haldol compared to the last time isn’t clear, Mishra testified, saying his patient’s case is very complex.
“What is very clear is that he is now able to exercise control of his actions,” Mishra said.
As a result of the medication, Mishra said Azevedo has spent more time on “seclusion relief,” which means being escorted out of his room by staff to participate in activities like watching TV, listening to music, and visiting family.
He said the plan is to soon have him out of seclusion for good, “under constant observation” by one or two staff members.
“We are at that inflection point,” Mishra said.
At this, Szigeti was incredulous. She pointed out that at Azevedo’s previous ORB hearing just this past February, Mishra had conceded that Azevedo was in a “dire situation” and had not “held out much for hope” for an improvement.
Mishra replied that there had been some failed attempts with other medications — “We were going back to the drawing board and we had just restarted the Haldol.”
Fast forward to this summer, Szigeti said, and Azevedo is now suddenly so much better that he’s about to be released from isolation— “That’s a pretty miraculous recovery, wouldn’t you say?”
One psychiatrist who found himself agreeing that it was more than just the Haldol that helped Azevedo was Dr. Yedishtra Naidoo of St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, who had been tasked by Waypoint with conducting an external review of Azevedo’s seclusion status.
Initially, Naidoo believed that the medication was solely responsible for the “significant improvement” in Azevedo’s condition.
But when Naidoo came to testify before the ORB last Thursday, he said his conclusion had “expanded”: that while the medication had been effective, spending an increasing amount of time on seclusion relief had also had a positive effect on Azevedo’s behaviour by reducing stress and distress from being around other people.
“Both are important to ultimately getting this man back out of seclusion.”
Family want ‘meaningful safeguards’
Azevedo’s family knows that he’s very ill and needs to remain at Waypoint for now. They’re grateful that he’s doing much better, and are hoping that the changes the hospital has made will be permanent.
Being able to kick a soccer ball, visit the canteen, and listen to music “may appear insignificant,” Susan Azevedo wrote in her letter to the ORB.
“To our family, they are anything but insignificant. They are pieces of a life — and perhaps, with continued progress, pieces of a larger world that Andrew may someday be able to reconnect with.”
She wrote that the family recognizes there are very real safety considerations involved in Azevedo’s care, and they are not asking the ORB or the hospital to ignore those risks.
What they want, she said, is for the board to put “meaningful safeguards in place” to ensure that these “hard-won pieces of Andrew’s life” are protected and cannot be taken away again.
Before Andrew had the legal advocacy and outside attention he has now, his continued seclusion seemed to simply become accepted as normal.
“We are asking that safety not become the sole measure of whether Andrew is being adequately cared for,” she wrote. “After almost five years in seclusion, Andrew is finally getting back small pieces of a life outside the four walls of his room.”
His parents wrote that they are left to wonder what their son’s condition or quality of life might have been like over the past five years had he received the level of attention he’s getting now.
“What we can do is make sure that what happened does not simply become forgotten because things are beginning to improve,” Jorge and Maria wrote, asking that the board continue questioning whether everything reasonably possible is being done to reduce Azevedo’s time in seclusion.
“Most importantly, please do not allow years of seclusion to become normal again.""
The entire story can be read at: '
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog. FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."Lawyer Radha Natarajan: Executive Director: New England Innocence Project; FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true;
