B.C. court upholds public health-care principles, striking down appeal
A Vancouver surgeon and businessman has lost his appeal of a landmark court case that threatened the foundations of the Canadian health-care system.
The B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal brought by Dr. Brian Day of the Cambie Surgical Centre, finding that a 2020 judgment from a lower court judge was appropriate in their 142-page ruling. Appeals only address perceived errors in law, not the fundamental facts established by the initial judgment.
Day had argued that British Columbians had the right to pay for private medical treatment, primarily scheduled day surgeries, because waits in the public system were so long, they violated patients’ constitutional rights to life, liberty and the security of the person under Section 7 of the Charter.
The Court of Appeal described Day’s argument as patients suffering “when the public system is broken and has failed to deliver on its promise of timely quality care, unjustly prevents individuals from using their own resources to meet their health-care needs,” and that “permitting parallel private care would act as a safety valve, relieving the pressure on the public system without harming it.”
While they disagreed with lawyers for the attorney general, representing the province, who had argued “the case was really about the financial interests and preferred business model of some physicians and private clinics,” the court of appeal did agree that equitable health care for all was of paramount importance.
“We’re disappointed,” Day told CTV News after the decision.
"This ruling means more Canadians are going to die before we fix the system.”
Day first launched the legal action back in 2009, before it finally made it to the B.C. Supreme Court in 2016.
GOVERNMENT AND ADVOCATES PLEASED
Asked for reaction to the latest development, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said the government is “very pleased of the decision of the court to support Canada's public health-care system.”
The BC Health Coalition, which has denounced the creep of privatized medicine into the public system, also applauded the decision.
"We can go to a hospital or a doctors office and we don’t walk away with a bill for $10,000. That would be in essence what we would start to see if the legislative framework is unravelled," said policy analyst, Andrew Longhurst.
"(Two-tiered medicine) would drain resources – limited health-care professionals, doctors, surgeons, nurses – out of the public system."
A SLIGHT DISAGREEMENT
While she agreed with her two colleagues that health care should be available to all based on their needs, rather than financial wherewithal, one of the judges essentially argued it’s unfair for patients to suffer because governments have decided to fund and operate the health-care system at current service levels.
“It is more than incommensurate to ask patients to risk irremediable harm and increased risk of death in order to preserve a public health-care system that is intentionally under-designed in order to achieve fiscal sustainability,” wrote justice Lauri Ann Fenlon, who pointed out the truly wealthy already travel to the United States or other countries and pay for swift access to medical services.
She acknowledged there is a “legal dissonance” in finding that a law is constitutional while being contradictory to the principles of fundamental justice.
“The record and findings of the judge amply support his conclusion that a duplicative system would result in longer wait times and, therefore, even poorer care for those who would have no option but the public system,” wrote Fenlon.
“We do not find that the judge overstated the societal benefits of the suppression of private care or the negative effects of striking the provisions on the sustainability and effectiveness of the public system.”
Day said he’s frustrated that despite recognizing that, the court ultimately upheld a system that has thousands waiting for medically necessary procedures.
"They deferred to government, essentially saying: ‘Yes, patients are suffering and dying but governments have the right to allow that,’" he said.
Day said he will now seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Correction
This story has been updated to correct the court's position on the argument from lawyers for the attorney general that the case was "really about the financial interests and preferred business model of some physicians and private clinics."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.