The plight of Lindsay McCreith of Ontario, Canada was popularized by my video A Short Course in Brain Surgery which told the story of his struggle to get timely medical attention under a system which severely rations health care. Now, the Canadian Constitution Foundation has announced its support for Mr. McCreith's constitutional challenge to Ontario's unjust centralized system:
Lindsay McCreith says he was almost killed by Ontario's health care monopoly. Now he hopes to get even with a constitutional challenge that, if successful, will pave the way for private care in a province dead set against it.
After suffering a seizure in January 2006, the 66-year-old retired Newmarket autobody-shop owner was told he likely had a malignant brain tumour. But he had to wait four-and-a-half months for an MRI to verify that diagnosis.
Mr. McCreith, unwilling to risk the wait and suspecting the growth was cancerous, got an MRI across the border in Buffalo, New York the next day. The scan confirmed his fears -- the tumour was malignant.
Even with this diagnosis, the Ontario system still refused to provide timely treatment, so Mr. McCreith had surgery in Buffalo to remove the growth.
His best friend and employee for 30-plus years wasn't so lucky. Don Stanley died last year waiting for triple bypass heart surgery, Mr. McCreith says. He had been turned away from a scheduled procedure because of a lack of beds at a downtown Toronto hospital.
7 May 2007 @ 4:57am