A Canadian is forced to pay for life-saving surgery:
Adolfo Flora had a simple choice. He could either die of liver cancer within six months or spend $450,000 for treatment overseas.Flora chose life and now an Ontario Divisional Court has ruled he will have to pay for that.
“It’s a very significant decision and not in favour of the public,” he said last night when reached at his home in North York, adding he has not spoken with his lawyer about appealing the decision. “At this point in time, I need some time to deal with it.”
This week’s ruling was a blow for the 57-year-old retired high school teacher, who contracted hepatitis C from a tainted blood transfusion and was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1999. He spent $450,000 for a transplant in England after being denied the life-saving help in Ontario.
(via Dr. Wes)
Related posts:
- Single-payer stories: Access to PET scans "a disgrace"
- Beware single-payer
- Single payer truths, from Ontario’s Ministry of Health
- America’s failed attempt at a single-payer system, the Indian Health Service
- Single-payer is inevitable
- Does the ACP covertly want a single payer system?
- Are doctors are hurt financially by single-payer health care?
KevinMD.com on Facebook
{ 3 comments }
What if he lived in the USA, did not have health insurance or his insurance wouldn’t cover the transplant. The same outcome.
This is a problem within Ontario – all the provincial healthcare systems are run somewhat differently, and it seems all the horror stories I hear come from Ontario. Just a reminder to readers that this isn’t necessarily a common problem in the rest of Canada (not to say that it is in Ontario).
Correct me if I am wrong, since I am more familiar with renal failure patients and they are 100% covered for transplants by Medicare. I believe there is similar Medicare coverage for all hepatic failure patients as well.
Comments on this entry are closed.