Courts will ponder British Columbian's right to private health...

Private surgery centres to take B.C. government to court     By Pamela Fayerman, Vancouver SunJanuary 28, 2009Comments (10)    

VANCOUVER — Private surgery centres across B.C. plan to launch court action against the B.C. government today to challenge provincial laws that block patients from accessing the clinics.

Operators of such clinics will be represented by Dr. Brian Day of the Cambie Surgery Centre, Anna Stylianides of the False Creek Surgical Centre, and Zoltan Nagy, president of the Canadian Independent Medical Clinics Association at a press conference this afternoon.

The plaintiffs will argue that the 2005 Chaoulli Supreme Court of Canada case should be applicable in B.C. In that case — brought by appellants Jacques Chaoulli, a doctor, and George Zeliotis, a patient — the highest court struck down Quebec's ban on private insurance for medically necessary services. The private clinics are expected to argue that citizens should be allowed to buy private health insurance to use in private clinics if their operative care is not delivered in a timely manner in the public system.

The action against the health minister, attorney-general and the medical services commission is expected to ask for a declaration that sections of the Medicare Protection Act violate the rights of citizens.

Health Minister George Abbott declined to comment Tuesday, but in the past he has pointed to Quebec’s private clinics to argue that private clinics already existing in B.C. may not be seen by the federal government as breaching Canada Health Act statutes. The Chaoulli ruling found that Quebecers’ rights under the Quebec charter of rights were being violated by long waits for medical care in the public system.

“In essence, the question is whether Quebecers who are prepared to spend money to get access to health care that is, in practice, not accessible in the public sector because of waiting lists may be validly prevented from doing so by the state,” read Justice Marie Deschamps’s reasons for the decision. “I find that the prohibition infringes the right to personal inviolability and that it is not justified by a proper regard for democratic values, public order and the general well-being of the citizens of Quebec.”

The decision sparked praise from private clinics in Quebec and speculation it could lead to the replacement of Canada’s health care system with a European-style two-tier system.

Sun Health Issues Reporter

pfayerman@vancouversun.com