Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

Appeal Court Tosses Out Constitutionality Challenge Over Health Care

The Canadian Press, 10 Sep, 2015 12:23 PM
    OKOTOKS, Alta. — A former Calgary-area dentist who paid for back surgery in Montana rather than wait to have it done in Alberta has lost his challenge of a lower-court ruling that determined he could not sue the government over a delay in getting the procedure done in his own province.
     
    Darcy Allen, who is from Okotoks, Alta., had argued unsuccessfully in Court of Queen's Bench that the Alberta government's monopoly on health care was unconstitutional.
     
    Allen's legal team had sought to have a 2005 Supreme Court of Canada decision expanded to Alberta.
     
    That decision struck down a Quebec law that banned private insurance for medically necessary services.
     
    However, a Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled Allen had failed to establish a sufficient link between the government's practices and the harm he suffered.
     
    On Wednesday, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled against him again, concluding that his "attempt to adjudicate the constitutionality of the Alberta statute in a summary fashion was inappropriate" and the issues raised in the case would require a full trial.
     
    Allen injured his back playing hockey in late 2007 and was told it could take up to eight months to get an MRI scan under public health care.
     
    A scan he had done at a private clinic confirmed disc damage and when pain medication and other treatments didn't work, the dentist was told he needed surgery.
     
    He was scheduled for an operation in September 2011, but he instead paid $77,000 to have it done in Montana in December 2009.
     
    Allen, who eventually had to give up his practice due to his condition, had originally wanted to sue the province for damages resulting from the time he spent on MRI and surgical wait lists.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Man Arrested After Ontario Couple Watches Florida Home Burglary Via Web Cam

    Man Arrested After Ontario Couple Watches Florida Home Burglary Via Web Cam
    The surveillance tape helped Lee County sheriff's deputies arrest 45-year-old Thomas Hinton on Sunday, the day after the burglary.

    Man Arrested After Ontario Couple Watches Florida Home Burglary Via Web Cam

    Mina Khtaria Of Surrey To Audition For 'Miss Universe India 2015'

    Mina Khtaria Of Surrey To Audition For 'Miss Universe India 2015'
    Twenty contestants will be shortlisted who will appear on a TV reality show "Miss Diva".

    Mina Khtaria Of Surrey To Audition For 'Miss Universe India 2015'

    Stephen Morse Charged In Sexual Assault And Attack On Elderly Woman In Her South Surrey Home

    Stephen Morse Charged In Sexual Assault And Attack On Elderly Woman In Her South Surrey Home
    Police say the victim was in her home on Aug. 12 when a man burst in, restrained her and demanded cash and other items

    Stephen Morse Charged In Sexual Assault And Attack On Elderly Woman In Her South Surrey Home

    Car-Truck Collision In Quebec Leaves 3 Dead

    Car-Truck Collision In Quebec Leaves 3 Dead
    Quebec Provincial Police say all three victims were in the car, which ended up beneath the truck due to the impact of the collision at about 8:30 p.m.

    Car-Truck Collision In Quebec Leaves 3 Dead

    Indo-Canadian Edmonton Lawyer Justin Sidhu Who Smuggled Drugs Into Prison, Gets 4 Years In Jail

    Indo-Canadian Edmonton Lawyer Justin Sidhu Who Smuggled Drugs Into Prison, Gets 4 Years In Jail
    Charged with delivering six grams of banned methamphetamine to an inmate at a remand centre, Justin Sidhu was convicted of drug trafficking in June this year

    Indo-Canadian Edmonton Lawyer Justin Sidhu Who Smuggled Drugs Into Prison, Gets 4 Years In Jail

    B.C. Coroner Identifies Boater, Hiker Who Died In Separate Incidents

    VANCOUVER — The BC Coroners Service has identified two men who died in separate incidents. Sixty-seven-year-old Steven Munro died in a boating accident.

    B.C. Coroner Identifies Boater, Hiker Who Died In Separate Incidents