Anesthetist receives jail sentence after patient left in vegetative state

A former Saskatchewan anesthetist is the first Canadian doctor to be jailed as a result of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. He received a 6-month jail sentence after a 17-year-old patient was left in a vegetative state after an operation. The anesthetist had left the operating room during the procedure and the patient became disconnected from his respirator. Dr. Dennis Kendel, registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, says that the sentence "sends a very clear signal to physicians."