An obstetrics nurse accused of giving women a labour-inducing drug without a physician’s permission has denied all allegations made against her in a class-action lawsuit at the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick on Tuesday.
The nurse, identified as Nicole Ruest, worked at the Horizon Health Network in Moncton, which has also denied all allegations of negligence.
The representative plaintiff in the case is Jayde Scott, a mother of twins, who launched the class-action lawsuit in April.
READ MORE: Women launch lawsuit in labour-inducing drug case at Moncton hospital
The 26-year-old Moncton woman was given oxytocin through a saline solution IV, which created a sharp and dangerous drop in the fetal heart rate of her twin daughters, according to the lawsuit. She later had an emergency C-section.
The class action is seeking a full apology and a system for compensation for the harm caused.
The lawsuit says Ruest denies allegations that she administered oxytocin knowing it would be in contravention of medical orders or harmful to Scott. Ruest says she gave oxytocin believing it did not violate any medical orders and that it wasn’t done to cause harm to the mother.
WATCH: Class-action lawsuit launched against New Brunswick’s largest health authority, obstetrics nurse accused of improperly giving labour-inducing drug
She also denied attempting to hide her actions from Scott, any other woman, the attending physicians or her employer.
Ruest is a registered nurse and had been employed by Horizon Health Network in the labour and delivery unit at the Moncton Hospital for 10 years.
The hospital said in the lawsuit that if Ruest was administrating oxytocin to mothers who were in labour without a physician’s order, she did so without the knowledge or consent of the hospital and the physicians.
READ MORE: More than 40 patients come forward after allegations N.B. nurse inappropriately induced labour
The hospital also said that its physicians were becoming concerned over the increasing number of emergency C-sections and were attempting to determine the reason for the increase.
Ruest was fired by the hospital in March, and her contract was terminated.
She’s now filing a cross-claim against Horizon Health Network for contribution and indemnity and is asking for financial compensation.
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