Online petition garners support as Ont. mother fights for special exemption for toddler in ICU with RSV
An online petition is gaining momentum as a Cookstown, Ont. mother fights for her son to receive an antibody treatment for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, after being denied by the Ministry of Health.
“Today was the first x-ray that we had where he didn’t have a collapsed lung in three and a half weeks,” said Lauren Dempsey.
Lauren Dempsey’s son George is just weeks shy of his fourth birthday and has been in the ICU at SickKids in Toronto for more than three weeks fighting RSV.
Initially placed on breathing tubes as his parents fight to get him a six-month antibody treatment, which Dempsey says costs $42,000.
“It’s kind of mind-boggling to me that this can still go ignored by the government for something that seems so fundamental given RSV right now,” said Dempsey.
It’s a treatment George received until earlier this year when he aged-out to protect him against the virus, which is primarily available to high-risk children under two.
George has a rare form of spinal muscular atrophy, making his fight with RSV even more difficult as his parents remain by his side.
Along with his parents, who applied for the treatment, SickKids recommended George receive a special exemption from the ministry, one his doctor said likely would have prevented the young boy from serious illness.
“There was a way to help prevent George from catching this, it was supported by medical teams that are well respected in one of the best children’s hospitals in the world, and you just ignore it,” said Dempsey.
The online petition has collected more than 12,000 signatures calling on the government to issue George a special exemption for the RSV antibody treatment due to his age.
It’s George’s second bout with the virus, which he caught in 2020 when he spent about two months in the hospital.
Now amid flu season, the government is denying George the treatment his parents believe will help prevent the severity of the virus in the future.
“For you to just think that he’s just a piece of paper that crossed your desk that you put an X on for whatever reason, it’s not acceptable, and it’s not okay,” said Dempsey.
Dempsey said SickKids has resubmitted an application for appeal and is awaiting that decision from the Ministry of Health.
With George now testing negative for RSV, she hopes to get government approval for treatment in time for her son’s fourth birthday to help protect him.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.