LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
SEPTEMBER 2016 53
| HEALTH LAW |
ing medically necessary procedures in the
public system from performing those same
procedures in the private market. at
makes it exceedingly difficult for Canadi-
ans to purchase services that the province
deems medically necessary. "So you would
have to go to Buffalo, New York, for ex-
ample, if you wanted to get an MRI in less
than three months," says Golding.
Watts recently spent $5,000 at the vet to
reattach his dog's ligament. "But I can't do
that on myself," he says, "because it's anti-
Canadian and wouldn't be appropriate.
"A product called synthetic bone mar-
row, which eliminates the need to harvest
bone marrow from your hip and the subse-
quent high risk of infection, is not insured
in Ontario. Why can't you pay for it? Be-
cause hospitals won't allow you to do it —
culturally it's the Antichrist.
"ere are many great opportunities,"
says Watts, "for the private system to fill
the void in health care."
MEDICAL ERROR DISCLOSURE
Added pressures on the health-care sys-
tem lead to medical errors, and one of the
ALLERGIC TO INNOVATION
The history of health-care innovation in Canada is rife with examples of political interference. In many instances,
international business ventures are forced to pull out due to the chilly reception
MICHAEL WATTS OF OSLER, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP says health-care businesses in Canada are uniquely vulnerable
to elections and shifts in political climate and other interference. In 2014, for example, the Progressive Conservative government
of Alberta awarded a $3-billion, 15-year contract to an Australian company, Sonic Healthcare, to expand private laboratory services
in Edmonton and northern Alberta. The existing provider challenged it successfully, and the new NDP government cancelled
the contract in 2015, saying they didn't see evidence that privatization would improve the health of Albertans.
TSX-listed company Centric Health Corp., which was created by a South African doctor-turned-entrepreneur and is now based
in the US, calls itself Canada's leading diversified health-care services company. In 2012, it decided not to purchase Toronto's private Shouldice Hospital
due to political developments in the province and the requirement of the health minister's approval of the $14-million deal under the Private Hospitals Act.
In 2014, Health Minister Eric Hoskins sent a letter to Ontario's more than 150 hospitals asking them not to "market to, solicit or treat international
patients," after health-care groups raised concerns that medical tourists from abroad might displace Ontario patients. "Other jurisdictions around the world
are trying to attract more people to come spend money in their health-care system," says Watts. "Meanwhile, we just built the billion-dollar Humber River
Regional Hospital, where at 4 p.m. the surgical sites close down because we have no money to pay doctors 24/7 — yet people are still waiting for services.
"The health-care system is not truly patient-centred," says Watts. "We buy into the belief that it's the best in the world, but the statistics show
we're actually 36th, with no ability to change to accommodate the needs we have."
