Elon Musk has criticised Canada’s healthcare system following the death of an Indian-origin man in Edmonton, who reportedly waited over eight hours in a hospital emergency room before receiving treatment.
“When the government does medical care, it is about as good as the DMV,” Musk wrote on X on Friday, resharing a video showing the man’s wife recounting her husband’s death.
Musk compared Canada's healthcare system to the United States Department of Motor Vehicles which is infamous for its inefficiency.
The man, 44-year-old Prashant Sreekumar, an accountant based in Edmonton, died on December 22, after what was suspected to be a cardiac arrest at Grey Nuns Hospital in Alberta.
According to local media, Prashant experienced severe chest pain at work and was taken to the hospital, where he was checked in at triage and asked to wait in the emergency room.
Hospital staff conducted an electrocardiogram (ECG) and offered him Tylenol for pain. Nurses continued to monitor his blood pressure, but he remained in the waiting area for more than eight hours.
Prashant’s death has drawn attention within Canada’s Indian community, with leaders highlighting long waiting times and a shortage of hospital beds.
Prashant’s father, Kumar Sreekumar, arrived at the hospital after his son was admitted. “He told me, ‘Papa, I cannot bear the pain,'” Kumar said. He added that his son had told him and hospital staff that the pain was “a 15 out of 10.”
Prashant’s wife has demanded accountability from the hospital.
Covenant Health, which runs the Grey Nuns Hospital, told Global News in an email that it wouldn’t comment on the specifics surrounding patient care because of privacy, but did say the case is before the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
“We offer our sympathy to the patient’s family and friends. There is nothing more important than the safety and care of our patients and staff,” the statement said.