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McCreith & Holmes v. Ontario

Your 'Right to Life' includes timely access to health care

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Lindsay McCreith

Ontario’s healthcare monopoly almost killed Lindsay McCreith. After suffering a seizure in January of 2006, the 66-year-old retired auto body shop owner from Newmarket was told he had a brain tumour. But he would have to wait four-and-one-half months to obtain an MRI to rule out the possibility that it was cancerous. Unwilling to risk the progression of what might be cancer, Mr. McCreith obtained an MRI in Buffalo, which revealed the brain tumour was malignant. Even with this diagnosis in hand, the Ontario system still refused to provide timely treatment, so Mr. McCreith had surgery in Buffalo to remove the cancerous brain tumour in March of 2006.

In Ontario, Mr. McCreith would have waited eight months for surgery, according to his family doctor. Eight months is quite enough time for a cancer to worsen, spread and progress to an irreversible stage. Had Mr. McCreith not paid $27,600 (USD) out-of pocket for immediate medical care, he might be dead today.

“The government’s healthcare monopoly would have killed me. I’m taking this to court with the goal of ensuring that other Canadians will not have to die on waiting lists, or even run the risk of death.”

- Lindsay McCreith

From left to right: John Carpay, Shona Holmes, Dr. Merrilee Fullerton and Dr. William Orovan

Shona Holmes, a self-employed family mediator and the married mother of two children, began losing her vision in March of 2005. She also experienced severe headaches, anxiety attacks, high blood pressure, extreme fatigue, and weight gain. In spite of these serious symptoms and an MRI revealing a tumour in Ms. Holmes’ brain, Ontario’s health care system told her that she would have to wait months to see a specialist. Her vision deteriorating rapidly, Ms. Holmes went to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona in June of 2005. After extensive testing, several specialists (including an endocrinologist, a neurologist, and a neurosurgeon who is licenced to practice in Ontario) told her that if she did not receive surgery to remove the tumour immediately, she risked losing her vision forever, and possibly death.

With the Mayo Clinic test results and diagnosis in hand, Ms. Holmes returned to Ontario, only to be told to wait for more appointments and tests. Having lost one half of her vision in her right eye and one quarter in her left, and unable to expedite appointments with specialists, she returned to the Mayo Clinic, where surgeons operated to remove the tumour. Within ten days, Ms. Holmes’ vision was completely restored. Visual field testing and a post-operative MRI also confirmed that the tumour caused the vision loss. Surgery had indeed been necessary to save her eyesight. Nevertheless, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) refuses to reimburse Ms. Holmes for any of the expenses she was forced to incur in seeking necessary medical care abroad. While she has returned to work, her husband must now work two full-time jobs to pay off the debts they were forced to incur to save her vision.

“I consider myself one of the lucky ones, having survived the Ontario health care system. But the reality is, this has been a bitter-sweet experience for me and my family. After receiving compassionate treatment in the United States with my brain surgery, counting my blessings is mixed with the stress and worries placed on my family. We have had to pay a high financial, emotional and spiritual cost. I don’t want to see anyone else have to go through what we’ve gone through.”

- Shona Holmes

Relying on the 2005 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Chaoulli v. Quebec, this case challenges Ontario laws which prohibit the sale of private health care and private health insurance for essential health services. Lindsay McCreith and Shona Holmes argue that these laws violate every Canadian's right to "life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice." (Charter, Section 7)

In Chaoulli, the majority of the Supreme Court judges ruled that Quebec’s ban on private health insurance creates a “virtual monopoly” over health care by government. The Court ruled this monopoly, through its waiting lists, inflicts physical and psychological suffering on patients, and the risk of irreparable harm and even death.