Appeals : Confirmed Referee Decisions : #27 - August 23rd, 2001

D E C I S I O N

Introduction

1. Claimant 1000450 from the Province of Nova Scotia submitted a claim as a primarily infected person under the HVC Transfused Plan.

2. By letter dated March 19, 2001, the Administrator denied the claim because the Claimant did not provide sufficient evidence that she received a blood transfusion during the Class Period; namely, between January 1, 1986 and July 1, 1990.

3. The Claimant requested that a Referee review the decision of the Administrator.

4. Neither Party requested a hearing with respect to this Claim.

Facts

5. The Claimant submitted in the General Claim Introduction Form that she had received a blood transfusion between the period of January 1, 1986 and July 1, 1990.

6. In particular, the Claimant believes that she received a blood transfusion in conjunction with surgical procedures that she underwent at St. Martha's Hospital in Antigonish in May of 1988.

7. In her Claim, the Claimant states that it is her belief she receive two units of blood in May 1988 at St. Martha's Hospital. She believes that, prior to her surgery, she received "blood product and iron pills".

8. However, an evaluation of medical records with respect to the hospitalization of the Claimant in 1988 provided no record of a blood transfusion. This is revealed by the case summary of her treatment and her diagnosis relating to the surgery as well as the carefully transcribed nurses' notes.

9. Furthermore, all blood transfusions at St. Martha's Hospital are recorded by retaining the serial number of the blood given and the time of the transfusion. There is no evidence of a transfusion in the case of the Claimant at the Hospital.

10. In addition, the Claimant's physician has completed the Treating Physician Form and confirms, having regard to the definition of "blood", that the Claimant did not receive a blood transfusion in the period January 1, 1986 to July 1, 1990.

Decision

11. The Claimant has applied for compensation under the terms of the Hepatitis C 1986-1990 Class Action Settlement as approved by Court Order dated October 22, 1999.

12. The terms of the Settlement provide a detailed outline of who is eligible for compensation and how eligibility can be proven.

13. In order to qualify for compensation and to be accepted as a primarily infected person under the HCV Transfused Plan, the Claimant must first demonstrate that she received a blood transfusion in the Class Period.

14. The January 1, 1986 to July 1, 1990 Hepatitis C Settlement Agreement defines "Class" as meaning "the period from and including 1 January 1986 to and including 1 July 1990".

15. Membership in the Class is a pre-condition for eligibility for compensation.

16. It is clear that if a blood transfusion cannot be established to have taken place during the Class Period, then a Claimant is not entitled to receive compensation.

17. The Claimant must demonstrate that she received a "blood transfusion in Canada during the Class Period". Unfortunately, based on all of the evidence and documentation provided in the present Claim, the Claimant has failed to establish that she received a blood transfusion in Canada between January 1, 1986 and July 1, 1990.

18. I must, therefore, conclude that the Claimant has not met the eligibility requirements for compensation under the HCV Transfused Plan. I uphold the decision of the Administrator.

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Dated at Halifax on this 23nd day of August 2001
Gregory I. North, Q.C., C. Arb.
Referee