This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hello all TIMSrs Canadian or not. Check out this site and all the work Tim from out east is doing for all of us...the challenge will benefit Canadians in particular, but all of us in general re the legal precedent it will set. Tim and his team have $4300 to date donated and need $20,000 by August so they can proceed with the challenge. It will be so exciting and draw alot of attention. If you can help, even just a bit...please do.
http://www.angioplastyforall.com

The lawsuit is not a class action lawsuit. It is a Charter of Rights lawsuit and it is one we believe we can win. I have sent in money and the other people with MS in my MS group have. It is surprising that more Canadians do not want to donate to this cause. People keep setting up marches and petitions. That will not work. The people on the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Council are not elected officials. They do not care about letters, petitions and marches and they do not care about our MS symptoms. This is about money, only.

Quite right eveable, I should be using the proper terminology and have edited my post. I believe it started out as a class action and then morphed into a charter challenge after they spoke to the lawyer. Regardless, you are correct, it is great news and I agree, more people should be on board for this exciting venture. I have also donated and plan to send more money. This is a good cause and we will win, I am sure.

I donated today via an electronic bank transfer and because I believe the initiative to be valid I am bumping this post.

Good luck AFA
Nick

Count me in! My only concern is how long a Charter Challenge will take. Does anyone have any advice concerning Human Rights complaints in other provinces, similar to the one launched recently in B.C.?

There we go, I was looking for this, did not see it so put in a new post.

The plan was to do this fast, start by August and finish in a year. It might take 2 or 3 years depending on how well we do, how well the government does and how badly the government wants to fight this.

This is court and we are dealing with lawyers and government. The government does not fight fair, particularily when there is money on the line.

Just listening to our lawyer made me realize that I never want to live in that world. It's ugly.

Blaze, I have no knowledge if any Human Rights cases have been filed. That takes place within the Human Rights Board and they decide if there is enough evidence to file a case.
In my case, I was terminated from my job because I have MS. Not because I had ever taken a day off or because I couldn't so my job. Just because my employeer, a hospital, could not deal with the fact that one of their employee's had MS.
I filed a suit, called half a year later when I had not heard anything and found out there was no suit. I could not file again then. So those cases are dificult because you do not have a lowyer and are not filing the case yourself.

Just heard from the Angioplasty for All group...see below!

------
Update July 23, 2010

We are now at approx $5400.00 in the bank.

We have asked in the past that you not post on public sites what we are planning, but now that our plans are made, we want everyone to post everywhere and let everyone know what we are trying to accomplish.
Using the information on the website www.angioplastyforall.com post to as many sites as you can.

Our next hurdle is to pay legal, and expert witness costs etc. 100% of all money collected will go to these costs.

-----

Even though this legal challenge will take time, it is being done for all people with MS, especially in Canada. The US will be watching this case as it goes through the courts. I personally am leaving Canada to have my treatment elsewhere, meanwhile, this litigation will eventually be in place for MSers who cannot afford to leave Canada and be treated.
There are many people who have a genuine interest in seeing this case through. Special thanks to the Directors of AFA and other members for their hard work at getting this up and going. Even Kristy Duncan (MPP) was at the initial meeting to jumpstart this venture. The Lawyer hopes to have this case in the courts by early August with a possible decision in 6 to 8 months. He strongly believes we will "Win" this Charter case. When we win in Ontario we can take the decision to every other province in Canada and hope that it spreads over into the US and other countries that are dragging their feet on this issue.
So, it is so important to go to the website and donate. Every little bit helps.
http://www.angioplastyforall.com

Before anyone starts throwing money at a lawyer, make sure you get a clear and definitive answer to the following question:

What distinguishes our case from Auton (Guardian ad litem of) v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [2004] 3 S.C.R. 657, 2004 SCC 78

In deciding against this group of patients, the Supreme Court of Canada said "The benefit claimed — funding for all medically required treatment — is not provided by law. The Canada Health Act and the relevant British Columbia legislation do not promise that any Canadian will receive funding for all medically required treatment. All that is conferred is core funding for services delivered by medical practitioners and, at a province’s discretion, funding or partial funding for non-core services... "

and further

"The scheme is, by its very terms, a partial health plan and its purpose is not to meet all medical needs. It follows that exclusion of particular non-core services cannot, without more, be viewed as an adverse distinction based on an enumerated ground. Rather, it is an anticipated feature of the legislative scheme."

Sounds very much like a case of 'been there, done that, patients lost' to me.

I believe the premise of the challenge is the discrimination that is occurring whereby simple angioplasty is available to everyone except people with MS. I understand what you are getting at and I agree not every treatment can be guaranteed to people but how can one group be refused a treatment that is available to all others....

Canadians with MS are being denied a treatment that has proven, based on evidence by other patients that have had the treatment, to stop, and or rather reverse their MS symptoms. It's purely criminal.

Tim and the gang are up to $7330 today, we have a week left to get them to $10k. We can do it people!

I will ship $500 tomorrow.

Thank you for your generous donation.