Patients suffering in pain on wait lists for surgery have once again been denied their Charter right to access health care outside of the government’s cruel, inefficient, and unaccountable monopoly. In 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada famously declared in Chaoulli vs. Quebec that “access to a waiting list is not access to health care.” But last week, the Alberta Court of Appeal refused to apply and follow the Chaoulli precedent, citing a lack of evidence in the case of Darcy Allen vs. Alberta.
A dentist in Okotoks, Alberta, Dr. Allen was forced out of his profession while waiting for years for surgery to address his severe and debilitating back pain. What began in 2007 as a seemingly minor hockey injury gradually turned his life into a nightmare of around-the-clock pain. Normal tasks, like shovelling snow or tying shoelaces, became impossible. On one occasion, Dr. Allen watched helplessly as his one-year-old daughter, while crawling on a bed, lost her balance and fell off, and he could not move to catch her.
Dr. Allen finally received a referral for surgery in early 2009, but no surgery could be performed until September 2010 — a date later pushed back to June 2011. No longer able to work to support himself and his family, unable to perform ordinary day-to-day tasks, and experiencing pain so severe that not even the strongest drugs were effective, he spent $77,000 of his own money on surgery in Montana. Dr. Allen’s surgery immediately and significantly reduced his pain, and started his slow journey back to better health. Apart from paying out of pocket, Dr. Allen’s only other option was to suffer two years of extreme pain, waiting for the Alberta government’s monopoly system to provide necessary surgery.
John Carpay: Court ruling has denied a man his charter right to timely healthcare | National Post
A dentist in Okotoks, Alberta, Dr. Allen was forced out of his profession while waiting for years for surgery to address his severe and debilitating back pain. What began in 2007 as a seemingly minor hockey injury gradually turned his life into a nightmare of around-the-clock pain. Normal tasks, like shovelling snow or tying shoelaces, became impossible. On one occasion, Dr. Allen watched helplessly as his one-year-old daughter, while crawling on a bed, lost her balance and fell off, and he could not move to catch her.
Dr. Allen finally received a referral for surgery in early 2009, but no surgery could be performed until September 2010 — a date later pushed back to June 2011. No longer able to work to support himself and his family, unable to perform ordinary day-to-day tasks, and experiencing pain so severe that not even the strongest drugs were effective, he spent $77,000 of his own money on surgery in Montana. Dr. Allen’s surgery immediately and significantly reduced his pain, and started his slow journey back to better health. Apart from paying out of pocket, Dr. Allen’s only other option was to suffer two years of extreme pain, waiting for the Alberta government’s monopoly system to provide necessary surgery.
John Carpay: Court ruling has denied a man his charter right to timely healthcare | National Post
