Dosanjh says he can't overrule his department on AIDS drugs: But health minister says dying patients should get risky treatment if they ask

published on December 2, 2005 in Vancouver Sun

OTTAWA -- Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh broke with his own department Monday to say Health Canada is defying logic and common sense by denying B.C. artist Tiko Kerr and five other dying men access to a potentially life-saving HIV-AIDS treatment.

Dosanjh, in a public statement on the eve of the 2006 election campaign that begins today, said he has no authority to interfere in a bureaucratic decision that is already shaping up as a hot campaign issue in Vancouver Centre, one of Canada's key bellwether ridings.

But he made it clear that he believes the department's Special Access Program (SAP) should be used for patients like Kerr, who want to participate in the treatment being proposed by one of Canada's most internationally recognized HIV/AIDS experts. More >>

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AIDS Research Program

HIV Clinical Care

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© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.