Posted on 10/13/2004 9:07:41 PM PDT by Clive
OTTAWA (CP) - In a major policy shift, the federal government says it will consider compensating thousands of people infected with hepatitis C through tainted blood before 1986 and after 1990.
Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said Wednesday that he is ready to reconsider the rules for access to a $1.1-billion compensation fund to include victims previously denied.
Ottawa originally limited eligibility to victims infected from 1986 to 1990. It argued there was nothing it could have done to protect the blood supply from the virus before 1986, and that by 1990, protective measures were fully in place.
One reason for reconsidering the issue is that there appear to be fewer victims than expected, said Dosanjh. That means there might be enough money left to compensate all victims, regardless of when they were infected.
"If there is an actuarial surplus that might survive over time, if we can take a look at that and examine that issue in terms of supporting victims pre-'86 and post '90, I'm examining that issue," Dosanjh said.
Activists for excluded victims say there is still more than $1 billion in the fund, and that there is enough to compensate everyone. They have launched two class-action lawsuits to get a share of the money.
But some lawyers involved in administering the fund have said the fund is barely adequate to meet the lifetime needs of the '86-'90 group.
Dosanjh made it clear issues remain to be resolved: "Obviously that has to be done in consultation with the plaintiffs, the plaintiffs' lawyers and the courts, because it's a fund that's in trust."
Mike McCarthy, an activist who has long campaigned on behalf of excluded victims, welcomed the minister's promise to reconsider the issue.
"This is encouraging news. . . These are the first steps in the final chapter of our journey to get treated equally."
McCarthy estimated that about 6,000 people were infected before 1986 and 200 after 1990.
Former health minister Allan Rock, architect of the original compensation plan, took intense criticism for its perceived inequity. Rock said at the time that compensating all victims could bankrupt medicare.
He responded to complaints from excluded victims with a $300-million "care instead of cash" program intended to help them with their medical expenses, but that plan has only bred new complaints.
Most provinces appear to have used the money to enhance existing programs for hepatitis C treatment, rather than targeting it specifically toward the pre-'86, post-'90 victims as Rock promised.
The excluded victims say they have not received any of the "care instead of cash" money.
Dosanjh made no mention of the argument that Ottawa couldn't have done anything before 1986 to prevent the spread of the hepatitis C virus. It has become clear in recent years that measures to curb the spread were available, and were used in other jurisdictions, well before 1986.
It is also clear now that the government's original estimates of the number of victims were far too high.
-
The Clinton Legacy lives on.
Do a Google search on "Arkansas Blood Scandal"
http://www.famohio.org/_disc5/000000a3.htm
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin (aka Prime Minister Dithers)and his connection to the tainted blood scandal is outlined in the above link.
bttt
Welcome news after a long fight.
some people will say "so what" ....
but the sum total of his crimes have hit everyone of us...
I maintain that 911 happened because we had a stupid President more interested in blow jobs and focus groups than being the leader of the free world...
I wish Dubya would come out and say that....
afterall, 911 was not the FIRST attack on the Trade Centers.....
but Clinton chose to think of it as a "crime" rather than terrorism....
he let that slide, and the TWA 800 "accident" and Oklahoma City etc etc...
Askel, do you have the old ping list?
-
a bump and a drip!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.