At the Legislature

The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care is holding hearings regarding Bill 159 currently before the legislature. Hearings will be held across the province on February 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, and March 1, locations TBA. This bill includes a provision to allow police or officials investigating fraud to have access to records without permission. To obtain standing at the hearings, call 416-325-3515.

Bill 163, which passed first reading in December, protects pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers and those who perform medical procedures from legal action if damages result more than 15 years after an act or omission occurs. According to the Medical Reform Group, examples of those whose claims would be prevented by this legislation include women who develop vaginal cancer in their 20's due to their mothers’ use of DES during pregnancy. Other examples include those suffering from delayed cancer or disfigurement resulting from breast implant surgery and delayed lung cancer caused by smoking. Bill 163 can be found at http://www.ontla.on.ca/ Documents/documentsindex.htm

NDP Health Critic Francis Lankin has introduced a bill to establish rules governing the use of restraints on seniors in hospitals. Lankin was horrified when she found her ailing mother tied up against her will. In response to concerns that restraints are being used as "the easy way out" in a system with inadequate hospital funding and staffing, the Patient Restraints Act amends the Public Hospitals Act to say a hospital’s use of restraints will require a doctor’s written order and consent of the patient or substitute decision maker. It restricts the use of restraints to no longer than two hours for the sole purpose of protecting the patient or others from serious injury.

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