B.C.’s top court upholds dismissal of private health care challenge

The B.C. Court of Appeal released its ruling on a case that could determine the future of public health care in the province.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal has unanimously upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a Vancouver surgeon’s challenge of the Medicare Protection Act, saying bans on extra billing and private insurance do not violate the Charter.The court did find the lower-court judge erred in his analysis of the right to life and said in its ruling on Friday that the act’s provisions do deprive some patients not only to their right to security of the person, but to the right to life.

However, the court ruled that breach can be overruled by Section 1 of the Charter, which says rights can be limited if they are shown to be reasonable in a democratic society.Dr. Brian Day of the Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver had challenged the act, saying wait times in the public health system are too long and stopping patients from paying for those services outside the public system violates their rights.

– More to come