Response to C.difficile “inexcusably lax”

Over the past few months there have been many media reports with respect to a deadly new strain of a superbug called C.difficile – a bacterium that has claimed the lives of nearly 500 people in Ontario since mid-2006.

Dalton McGuinty and former Health Minister George Smitherman have known about this strain of C.difficile for four years and instead of looking into it, they have spent four years putting it off and have no plan to investigate the province-wide outbreak.

 The Premier has neglected the primary role of government, which is to protect the health and safety of its people.

Rewind a few years ago to 2003 to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that killed 44 people in Toronto. SARS was a new mysterious disease that caused panic across the province. I remember Ernie Eves, then Premier, and Health Minister Tony Clement being grilled daily on the progression of SARS. The outbreak prompted a massive public information campaign surrounding hygiene and hand-washing.

Despite the fact that Premier Eves quickly responded by calling for a public inquiry into SARS, the outbreak wreaked political havoc on our PC government at that time. But today, more deaths have been caused by C.difficile than by SARS, and yet the McGuinty government has idly sat by denying the seriousness of the situation.

The number of deaths, from C.difficile, across the province could be as high as 5,000 but since there is no detailed reporting measures, we may never know for sure. Locally however, Norfolk General Hospital has reported 17 C.diff deaths.

In 2003, Quebec was saddled with a C.difficile outbreak that resulted in 2,000 deaths. The following year the Canadian Medical Association recommended all provinces make reporting of the infection mandatory. Ontario did not heed this recommendation until recently when it was announced all hospitals would be required to report C.diff outbreaks by the end of 2008 – after days of questioning in the Ontario Legislature, the Minister moved that deadline to September 30th.

Ontario’s Ombudsman Andre Marin issued his annual report just a few weeks ago and took the opportunity to reprimand the government for failing to order an inquiry into the C.difficile deaths. He also called McGuinty’s response to C.difficile “inexcusably lax.”

He went on to say: “The Ministry of Health’s position is a little bit like a baritone, mellifluous voice telling you everything is just on track. Well, back at the ranch, the wheels are falling off the bus.”

Last week, PC Leader John Tory called on Health Minister David Caplan to do what is right and hold an immediate investigation, followed by a public inquiry, into the scope of C.difficile in Ontario. Marin has offered to investigate hospitals and long-term care facilities in order to provide accountability to the system – right now he is the only provincial Ombudsman without the ability to do so. The government responded to Marin by saying that expanding his role was “not in the government’s plans.”

McGuinty and gang have clearly demonstrated they cannot effectively handle public health concerns, but refuse to relinquish the control they have on the healthcare system.

While the government attempts to contain an embarrassing situation, people are needlessly dying and healthcare workers are burdened with a complex, systemic issue that deserves to be looked at impartially.