Appeals : Confirmed Referee Decisions : #55 - May 31, 2002

D E C I S I O N

1.The Claimant applied for compensation as a spouse of a HCV Infected Person who died prior to January 1, 1989.

2. By letter dated October 30, 2001, the Administrator denied the claim on the basis that the doctor who completed the Tran 2 stated that Hepatitis C did not contribute to the death of the Primarily Infected Person.

3. The Claimant requested that the Administrator's denial of her claim be reviewed by a referee.

4. I was appointed as referee on November 26, 2001.

5. On November 28, 2001, I wrote to the Claimant requesting that she advise me whether or not she wished to have an oral hearing.

6. On December 5, 2001, I received an e-mail from the Claimant indicating that she did not wish to have an oral hearing but that she was waiting for information from Dr. Rubin which she would forward to me as soon as possible.

7. Subsequently, I received a copy of a letter sent to the Claimant by Dr. Rubin under date of December 3, 2001, in which Dr. Rubin stated:

"December 3, 2001

…I have reviewed the documentation in his charts and note that he indeed was exposed to hepatitis-C via blood transfusions.

As far as I can determine from the documentation available to me, this was asymptomatic and was not accounting for any of the problems he encountered leading to his death. More specifically, his death was directly related to his having metastatic carcinoma of the colon with liver involvement.

Hepatitis-C, as far as I am aware, did not have any effect on accelerating this disease process.

Yours very truly,

S.H. Rubin, M.D., F.R.C.P.(C)"

8. On May 31, 2002, the Claimant contacted me by telephone and advised that, in light of Dr. Rubin's letter, she did not intend to make any further submissions and wished to withdraw her Request for Review of the Administrator's decision.

9. Having regard to the information provided to me, it seems clear that the death of the Claimant's spouse was not materially contributed to by HCV infection.

10. Accordingly, the Administrator's denial of the Claimant's request for compensation is hereby upheld.

DATED at Halifax, Nova Scotia, this 31st day of May, 2002.

S. BRUCE OUTHOUSE, Q.C.
Referee