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Cancer Patient Denied Surgery in U.S. by M.S.I., NDP Dave Wilson Wants Answers |
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Written by NDP
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Thursday, 14 June 2007 |
NDP Health Critic David Wilson has written the Minister of Health, Chris d’Entremont, to ask him to investigate the case of a young Nova Scotia mother who was sent by M.S.I. to the United States for a consult on possible cancer surgery, but has now been denied access to the surgery recommended by both her doctors here and the specialists she saw in Philadelphia.
“It’s no secret that sometimes to get the best advice and treatment for rare conditions you have to travel to see the best,” says Wilson. “We thought the government understood that when they sent Angela Feindel for a consultation to the U.S.”
“So why stop now and not help this Nova Scotian complete her recovery?’
Angela Feindel, 37, has been living with Primary Acquired Melanosis, a form of eye cancer, for six years. The mother of two small children needs a full-time nanny to help with the housework because she is in such severe pain. She has had 11 surgeries in Toronto without success. Last spring Angela attended the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia and after four more surgeries the cancer was brought under control. The final step in her recovery is a complex and rare surgery. Although performed occasionally elsewhere, Angela’s doctors have referred her to Miami to be treated by the specialist who invented the procedure.
MSI’s medical consultant says however that her surgery must be performed in Canada, against the advice of her doctors, even though the agency has approved a consultation with the same world-renowned surgeon just a few weeks ago.
“This is a sad case of bureaucracy getting in the way of common sense,” says David Wilson. “What makes this truly tragic is, while MSI consultants ignore the advice of four doctors, Angela suffers in pain within easy reach of the solution.”
“The Health Minister should take a look at this case and make sure Angela gets the care her doctors have prescribed - the care she so desperately needs,” says Wilson. “When a consultant at MSI overrules the advice of four eye specialists, patient care obviously isn’t the primary concern.” |
