Appeals : Confirmed Referee Decisions : #19 - September 25th, 2001

D E C I S I O N

The Claimant applied for compensation pursuant to the 1986-1990 Hepatitis C Settlement Agreement.

The claim was denied by the Settlement Administrator on March 19, 2001, and on April 16, 2001, the Claimant requested a review of that decision. By letter of April 25 2001, she indicated that she had no further submissions to make and that she did not wish to have an oral hearing or to have counsel represent her. Fund Counsel made written submissions, and took the position that the Claimant had failed to establish that she had received a blood transfusion between January 1, 1986 and July 1, 1990.

The 1986-1990 Hepatitis C Settlement Agreement provides compensation under the Transfused HCV Plan for Class Members first infected by a blood transfusion received in Canada between January 1, 1986 and July 1, 1990.

On the General Claimant Information form, dated June 14, 2000, the Claimant indicated that she was infected with Hepatitis C through a blood transfusion received in Canada between January 1, 1986 and July 1, 1990. The Treating Physician Form, dated August 8, 2000 and signed by Dr. Diana Ho Yuen, indicated that the Claimant received a blood transfusion in Canada in the period from January 1, 1986 to July 1, 1990. However, the Claimant completed a Declaration form dated August 30, 2000, in which she indicated that she received her first blood transfusion in Canada on August 30, 1990. She has also indicated that she has received 3 or more blood transfusions in Canada during her lifetime. On the General Claimant Information form, the Claimant indicated that she had received blood transfusions in Canada once prior to January 1, 1986, in 1984.

The medical records contain a report from Dr. Brock Pullen, a gastroenterologist, dated March 22, 1996, indicating that the Claimant likely became infected with Hepatitis C during a platelet transfusion in 1990.

There is also a note from Dr. Ho Yuen on October 15, 1996 indicating that the Claimant received frozen plasma on August 30, 1990, and that the donor of the plasma had been found to be Hepatitis C positive.

A letter from the Simon Fraser Health Board to Dr. Patrick Doyle dated September 4, 1996 confirms that the date of the transfusion was August 30, 1990.

Finally, there is a memorandum in the file from Carol Miller, RN, regarding a telephone conversation of May 11, 2001, from Ms. Miller to Dr. Ho Yuen. Ms. Miller's memorandum indicates that she asked Dr. Ho Yuen why she had responded "yes" to the question whether the Claimant had received a blood transfusion in Canada between January 1, 1986 and July 1, 1990. Dr. Ho Yuen reviewed her records and verified that the only transfusion received by the Claimant was on August 30, 1990. The material indicates that Dr. Ho Yuen had treated the Claimant for 18 years as of August, 2000.

The Claimant must establish that she received a blood transfusion in Canada during the class period of January 1, 1986 to July 1, 1990. The Claimant must also provide the Administrator with medical records "demonstrating that the Claimant received a blood transfusion in Canada during the Class Period. While the Claimant suggests that she received a blood transfusion in the class period, both she and her treating physicians indicate the date of the blood transfusion as August 30, 1990, which is outside the class period. Dr. Ho Yuen has subsequently verified that the only blood transfusion received by the Claimant was on August 30, 1990.

The only evidence as to the date of any other blood transfusion is the Claimant's statement that she had a blood transfusion in 1984, which of course, is also outside the class period. While the claimant has indicated that she had 3 blood transfusions in Canada, she has not provided any evidence or medical records to suggest that any of her transfusions occurred in the class period, and there is no evidence from her physicians to support a claim that she received a transfusion in the class period.

Accordingly, I am unable to find that the Claimant received a blood transfusion in the class period, and uphold the decision of the Administrator denying the claim.

DATED at Vancouver, British Columbia, this 25 day of September, 2001.

Robin J. Harper
Referee