$27.5M record in medical lawsuit

liver411

Sat Dec 8 02:10:00 PST 2001

Toronto Sta: Sat Dec 8, 2001 - Updated at 02:34 PM



$27.5M record in medical lawsuit



14,000 patients of Scarborough doctor exposed to hepatitis B

Rita Daly-STAFF REPORTER for the TORONTO STAR



TOO LATE: "I'd rather have things the way they were than have the money," says victim Robert Anderson.  A hepatitis B outbreak tracked to a Scarborough doctor's office six years ago has led to the largest medical malpractice settlement in Canadian history.



Lawyers for neurologist Dr. Ronald Wilson have agreed to a $27.5 million class action settlement that will benefit approximately 14,000 Ontario patients exposed to the potentially fatal liver disease.



Up to 1,000 people became infected and at least one person died after attending one of among six clinics he ran in the Toronto area between 1990 and 1996.



The patients were exposed after undergoing an electroencephalogram (EEG), which involved needles being placed in the scalp. EEGs are used to diagnose problems such as epilepsy, the origin of acute headaches and brain stem disorders.



The clinics in Scarborough, Ajax and North York were closed in February, 1996 as a result of a public health probe.



The 1996 outbreak sparked the investigation and subsequent DNA testing, which traced it to Wilson's technologist, Nicholas Kyprianou, who had a highly infectious case of hepatitis B and did not wear gloves. It was also attributed to inadequate infection-control measures at the clinics. Evidence indicated the needles used in the clinics were insufficiently sterilized.



Hepatitis B is the most infectious blood-borne disease and is far easier to transmit than hepatitis C or HIV.



The settlement, the result of the first medical class action suit filed against a Canadian doctor, will likely be a major financial concern for the Canadian Medical Protective Association, a non-profit body that provides legal protection and pays court awards for doctors. Until now, the largest judgment on behalf of an individual physician is said to have been roughly $10 million.



Wilson's lawyers fought certification of the class action all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where after four years of legal wrangling the right of appeal was denied. The class action subsequently went ahead in May of last year; the settlement must be formally approved at a hearing in Barrie on Jan. 2.



CMPA spokesperson Francoise Parent said any successful claim against a physician will come out of the association's multimillion-dollar reserve fund.



"The reserve is there for the purposes of providing settlement for patients," she said. Wilson, who denies any wrongdoing, still holds an Ontario medical licence and runs a sleep clinic in Scarborough. A former chief of neurology at Centenary Health Centre, Wilson was not in court when the settlement was reached in Newmarket yesterday.



However, he is scheduled for a five-week disciplinary hearing at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario starting next month. He could not be reached for comment, despite repeated attempts yesterday.



Former patient Deborah Fischer, who was hospitalized and almost died after contracting the virus in March, 1995, said she is glad to bring closure to the six-year ordeal.





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`It's been a long haul, many peaks and valleys in the legal system . . . At least now the people who started this are going to be compensated.'

- Former patient

Deborah Fischer

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"It's been a long haul, many peaks and valleys in the legal system, numerous delays. At least now the people who started this are going to be compensated," she said.



Fischer, 44 at the time, was referred by her family doctor to Wilson for migraine headaches. Later, she was so sick from the virus she was unable to keep from vomiting and her organs began to shut down. A branch manager for the Bank of Montreal at the time, she was off work for nearly three months.



Her marriage nearly broke up as her husband doubted her fidelity because he couldn't understand how she got the virus. She was eventually among more than 10,000 patients who were sent letters from Toronto public health officials early in 1996 and told they may have contracted hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV and to immediately get tested. "It never occurred to me and my family that I could have contracted this in a doctor's office," Fischer said.



Of the 14,000 patients, 10,000 of those who had EEGs and came forward for hepatitis B blood testing, whether infected or not, will automatically receive a cheque for $1,000. Another 4,000 who had EEGs at the clinics but never responded to the letter will get an automatic $100.



But the vast majority of the compensation will go to people who became infected. Each amount will depend on the severity of that patient's illness, said Paul Harte, one of a dozen lawyers representing the patients. "There could be as many as 1,000 people who come forward," he said.



Semi-retired Pickering resident Robert Anderson is now a carrier after contracting the hepatitis B from Wilson's clinic sometime in 1993. He, too, was referred there by his family doctor for headaches.



The worst part for him was feeling isolated from his wife and family, who worried they might become infected. He's happy the case has been settled, but "I'd rather have things the way they were than have the money," he says.



The College of Physicians has since issued a complete ban on reusable EEG needles. Instead, disc electrodes are stuck on to the skin and don't penetrate the scalp.



Of the total, $1.25 million goes to OHIP to recover payments made for the EEG tests, with the balance going into the compensation fund, including 25 per cent to the lawyers.



"We're obviously very pleased with the result. The settlement is the result of months of negotiation," Harte said.