FAMILY WATCHES SUIT AGAINST ALLEGED DRUG DEALER

The family of a woman who is suing her alleged drug dealer for
failing to help her after she overdosed on crystal meth wants to take
the profit out of selling deadly drugs.

"It comes down to selling a substance that can kill people, to
getting rid of the drug and trying to make it so it's not profitable
for them to sell it," said Georgina Bergen, whose daughter, Sandra
Bergen, suffered a heart attack in 2004 after using methamphetamine
she allegedly obtained from Clinton Davey.

The lawsuit brought by Sandra Bergen and her parents, Stan and
Georgina Bergen, against Clinton Davey and his mother, Dalis Davey,
continues Dec. 6, when a Queen's Bench justice will consider the
Bergens' motion to find Davey in contempt of court.

The Bergens claim Davey refused to answer questions during sworn
testimony about the night Bergen took enough meth she ended up in
hospital with a heart attack and failing kidneys and liver.

In documents filed at Queen's Bench, the Bergens claim Davey
professed not to remember certain things about the early morning of
May 5, 2004, even though his answers to certain other questions show
he remembered many details from the occasion.

The Bergens are also asking Davey's statement of defence be struck
out as if he had never entered it.

Claims in the civil suit have not been proven in court.

Davey and his mother could not be reached for comment Monday. The
alleged overdose incident took place in the home of Dalis Davey.

At least one other family of a person who over-dosed on crystal meth
is watching the case before deciding if they will bring a similar
suit, Georgina Bergen said Monday.

"It will be precedent setting if we do win," she said.

"No one's ever sued a drug dealer before. This will be the first
case, if we win," she said.

The Bergens sued to recover medical costs on behalf of the province,
as well as their own out of pocket expenses and general damages in
excess of $50,000.

The case has ignited public debate, with letters to the editor in
support of both sides.

While many people criticized Bergen for using the drug in the first
place, the family has also received letters of support and even a
couple of modest cheques to help with legal costs, Georgina said.

Sandra Bergen has recovered almost completely but there are some
lasting medical issues as a result of the over-dose and subsequent
heart attack and coma, her mother said.

Moments after smoking the drug, "It felt like somebody had stabbed a
pencil into my temple and right into my brain," Sandra Bergen
previously told The StarPhoenix.

She felt strange and began sweating profusely and vomiting.

She coughed blood but waited several hours before heading home. Soon,
her legs and arms began turning blue. Georgina took her daughter to a
doctor and she was sent to a hospital in Biggar. Tests revealed
Sandra had had a heart attack.

She was taken to Royal University Hospital where she slipped into a
coma, her heart functioning at seven per cent capacity.

Doctors told her parents she wouldn't make it through the night, but
she recovered and was released from hospital days later.

Sandra Bergen now works as a personal care aide and is often invited
to talk to high school students about the dangers of using crystal
meth, Georgina Bergen said.