The coroner’s report lifts the veil on the tragic circumstances that led to Karim Ouellet’s death. We learned that the singer, who had developed a drug addiction, had stopped treating diabetes that he suffered from for many years. Isolated after creating a vacuum around him, he had been dead for about two months when police found him in a studio in lower Quebec City on January 17.
However, the coroner concludes that the 37-year-old singer-songwriter died of natural causes as a result of diabetic ketoacidosis, directly attributable to poorly controlled diabetes.
untreated diabetes
Karim Ouellet, who lived with type 1 diabetes from a very young age, relied on daily insulin injections. However, the singer has always had a hard time accepting his illness, you can read in the forensic report made public this Wednesday. In May 2020, moreover, he had been hospitalized twice, again showing signs of diabetic ketoacidosis. Struggling with mental health issues and addictions, the singer had been off diabetes care for a year by then.
Diabetic ketoacidosis progresses very quickly and can cause death within days if left unchecked. However, people with diabetes can recognize the warning signs and take action to avoid the worst. The coroner suggests that Karim Ouellet’s drug use may partly explain his inaction, despite his deteriorating health.
“However, the presence of methamphetamine, another drug of abuse, was detected in the blood samples. This drug may have had the same effect. [que la cocaïne] about Mr. Ouellet, who, being intoxicated, was no more concerned about his diabetes than he had been in previous months,” Coroner Ms.me Sophie Regnier.
Methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant that comes with sneaky effects, has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent months, notes Anne Elizabeth Lapointe, executive director of Maison Jean Lapointe, an organization specializing in addiction treatment.
“There is a feeling of omnipotence. But people who consume it also tend to neglect themselves, stop eating, among other things. It is also a drug that can make you paranoid, that makes you isolate yourself,” explained M.me Lapointe interviewed in To have towithout commenting on the specific case of Karim Ouellet.
drug problems
Bags of cocaine were found at the scene, a substance to which Karim Ouellet had been addicted since 2019. However, it was impossible to determine if the artist had consumed it before his death, given the state he was in. When police made the gruesome discovery on January 17, her body was in the process of being mummified. He was lying on his back on the floor of the music studio he rented.
No news for a while, a member of his family had contacted the owner of this studio on January 4. The latter then realized that Karim Ouellet had not paid him the rent for the last two months, but he did not worry too much about it. The owner of the building finally alerted the emergency services on January 17 after receiving some complaints in the previous days due to a bad smell.
Karim Ouellet was last seen in November. After an investigation, the coroner estimates that the singer would have died on November 15, two months before we knew of his death. Just two weeks earlier, on October 31, Karim Ouellet had been hospitalized after being discovered unconscious, in a state of intoxication and severe hypoglycemia. He refused treatment, despite the insistence of the staff, and left the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec the same day.
“The Bill of Rights is very powerful. It is very difficult to hold someone against her will. How many times have I seen people who should never have gone out come home the same day! Perhaps the protocols should be stricter. Especially for people who don’t have an entourage,” lamented Anne Elizabeth Lapointe.
As for the family, they did not want to react to the coroner’s report.
Mental health
Karim Ouellet feared hospitals and always had great difficulty taking his medication continuously. Already at the age of 17 he had to be hospitalized because he refused insulin injections, which however were vital for him.
The musician’s mental health problems were known. When the announcement of his death was known, in January, several people who had rubbed elbows with him had announced it. After rising to fame with the album fox by 2012, the singer had gradually retired himself.
Disillusioned with his job, Karim Ouellet had become suspicious, even paranoid at times. Very few people still had contact with him at the time of his death.
According to the coroner’s report, he had previously been diagnosed with a substance use disorder, as well as a serious conduct disorder. During one of her hospitalizations, in May 2020, the doctors had also discussed a possible toxic psychosis, or substance-induced psychotic disorders. Despite his health problems, he still hoped to return to the front of the stage. He was also working on a new album.
Born in Senegal, adopted by a couple of diplomats, Karim Ouellet spent his childhood around the world with his parents and his sister, the rapper Sarahmée. Based in Quebec since his teens, he had a short but intense career. We owe him several successful titles, such as Love, There’s no point in running either Marie-Jo.
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