Ministry of Health and Long Term Care inspectors, she said, "just look at paper" - if a problem isn't recorded by nursing home staff, the case is closed. "The inspectors are not investigators - the coroners are investigators," said Meadus, a lawyer with the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly.
Previously, a coroner would visit the home where a death occurred, review records, interview families and staff and possibly examine the body. Five of the deaths currently under investigation in Woodstock, Ont., and London, Ont., happened prior to 2013, when there were coroner's investigations, and three occurred after investigations ceased.