Patients don鈥檛 deserve to be wrung out when they look for answers.

That鈥檚 what retired Penticton nurse Teri McGrath says as she continues the fight to bring to light the difficult struggle of keeping doctors who make medical errors accountable.

McGrath has been advocating for fair compensation for patients who have been harmed because of their doctors鈥� mistakes since 2019. She started with a petition that was read in the House of Commons in June 2019, but little came of it.

She launched another petition in October 2020, which was then filed and read in Parliament by South Okanagan-West Kootenay MP Richard Cannings on Feb. 17, 2021.

Since then, still not much has happened.

McGrath said at the heart of the issue is the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA), which as its name suggests, provides legal defence for Canadian doctors. She has said the CMPA has about $5.2 billion in funds for legal fees, or patient payouts when necessary.

READ MORE:

But McGrath said, the problem is that the provincial government reimburses physicians who become members of the CMPA, meaning doctors who pay to be members get a portion of their membership fees back through the government鈥檚 rebate program. McGrath said this means at some point, taxpayers鈥� money is actually used for legal defence against other taxpayers when they are harmed by medical professionals. The province鈥檚 Medical Services Commission reported in its 2 that B.C. paid out $57.7 million in reimbursements through its CMPA rebate program.

鈥淲ould this money not have been better spent for the citizens of B.C. and helping them in this health care crisis we鈥檙e in?鈥� McGrath said.

CMPA鈥檚 associate CEO Dr. Todd Watkins said while the association sees an average of 700 to 800 lawsuits against medical professionals, the CMPA settles about a third of them in favour of the patient.

He added they only go to court when they know they have a firm case to defend a physician.

鈥淲hen we assess the case and get medical experts involved, where we feel the experts don鈥檛 support the care that was delivered we work with the plaintiff鈥檚 lawyer to come to a resolution of settlement,鈥� he said.

He said the association鈥檚 goal is to provide patient support as soon as possible, but that process does take time. He said physicians don鈥檛 set out to deliberately harm a patient but when it happens, experts and the CMPA first need to make sure the doctor wasn鈥檛 negligent.

鈥淲hat the courts have said is they don鈥檛 expect perfection, but they expect physicians to live up to a standard of care that is fair and reasonable in a particular situation,鈥� he said.

鈥淚f by chance a physician selects the wrong diagnosis and follows that path 鈥� that could be perceived as a delayed or misdiagnosis, but may be perceived as experts and the court as meeting the standard of care because the diagnosis was reasonable in those circumstances.

鈥淚t is the worst-case scenario for both the patient and the physician because no one likes to see that. But it is an unfortunate element of the reality of delivering care.鈥�

However, McGrath maintains part of the problem is that doctors keep joining the CMPA as members.

鈥淣obody is speaking up because they鈥檙e afraid to 鈥� but until health care practitioners refuse to engage and be a member of the CMPA, nothing鈥檚 going to change,鈥� she said.

鈥淭hey鈥檒l say, 鈥榳e need liability coverage,鈥� but I鈥檝e found three Canadian insurance companies that will provide liability coverage for medical practitioners.鈥�

For the association鈥檚 part, Watkins said they are not an insurance company, providing instead an occurrence-based type of compensation and protection program. This means that the money the CMPA holds is used to provide either protection for the physician or compensation for a patient for current cases, past occurrences that may be reported now, as well as future cases, all depending on when the physician-caused harm is reported.

READ MORE:

McGrat has written to B.C. Minister of Health Adrian Dix, as well as his other provincial counterparts, even organizing letters for each province鈥檚 auditor general. She has written letters that others who are fighting alongside her will send out to the appropriate people in their provinces.

The next step, McGrath said, is for provincial ministers of health, and medical professionals, to come together to agree that they will only pay a certain amount to the CMPA or even not become members at all.

鈥淕et your own liability insurance, then you can go down the path of no-fault health care compensation, there鈥檚 arbitration, there鈥檚 compensation. (Other companies) can do this without the divisiveness (of the CMPA).鈥�

McGrath鈥檚 petition is no longer open for signatures, but you can still read it and the federal government鈥檚 response .

READ MORE:

twila.amato@blackpress.ca
Like us on and follow us on .