e-2101 (Health care services)

Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled

• Despite the establishment of numerous patient safety association since 1990, the most recent stats indicate that 30,000 and more patients die annually due to preventable medical errors making them the third leading cause of death in Canada;
• The only resource patients and families have for compensation is tort law that ties up our courts, is financially and emotionally devastating and a very lengthy and prolonged legal process;
• This is a nonpartisan political issue because all provincial governments across the country transfer millions of taxpayer dollars to the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) - British Columbia transferred $4.9 M in 2017 - every year to finance lawyers to engage patients and families in lengthy, expensive hearings;
• Taxpayer dollars are being used against taxpaying patients and families to pay lawyers to defend preventable medical errors causing injuries and deaths and the most recent statistics indicate only 2 percent of 4000 lawsuits had verdicts for the victim; and
• Seven progressive countries successfully use no fault health care compensation to support patients who have been injured or die due to preventable medical errors.