Friends and family of Billy Ballantyne say questions still remain following a coroner’s inquest into the death of the 44-year-old Montreal Lake Cree Nation man.
The inquest wrapped up last week.
Ballantyne was taken to Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert in November 2012 complaining of lower back pain after slipping on some ice.
He was later arrested by police and taken to cells after hospital staff alleged intoxicated behaviour.
Ballantyne was then again returned to hospital where he died of cardiac arrest.
The coroner’s inquest heard he died from an overdose of pain medication and had Ballantyne been properly assessed by a doctor, his life may have been saved.
In a press release, his sister Blanche Naytowhow says the family still doesn’t understand how Ballantyne went from being a hospital patient to an inmate.
Montreal Lake Chief Ed Henderson says racial stereotypes may have played a role in how Ballantyne was treated.
His family had suggested at the coroner’s inquest that police and hospital receive cultural sensitivity training, but this was not one of the recommendations adopted by the jury.