Ont. mother fights for special exemption for toddler in ICU with RSV
A Cookstown, Ont. mother is fighting for a special exemption for her toddler to receive an antibody treatment for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, after being denied by the Ministry of Health.
"They said he doesn't qualify. He doesn't meet the qualifications, and we (the ministry) are not convinced if he got RSV it would be a major life event requiring hospitalization," said Lauren Dempsey.
Every couple of days, Dempsey trades off with her husband, making the trip south to Toronto's SickKids Hospital, where her three-year-old son George has been fighting RSV, a common respiratory virus, for nearly two weeks. He is now intubated and in the intensive care unit.
"The fear (we have) is, is he going to come off the intubation tube? Are we going to be able to wean him from that? Is there going to be a dependency?" said Dempsey.
In January 2020, RSV landed George in the hospital for two months.
Around that same time, his parents learned he had a rare form of spinal muscular atrophy, which affects every muscle in his body, making it more difficult for him to battle the virus.
"Kids with a neuromuscular can't cough it up in a way that a normal child or an able-body child would be able to," said Dempsey, explaining how RSV impacts her son.
Because of this, George qualified for an antibody treatment to protect him against RSV, which is available primarily to high-risk children under the age of two.
"That's what the studies show the best impact for reducing hospitalization and intensive care for those babies with high risk," said Dr. Vincent Ho, a pediatrician with Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie. "The child or baby can still get infected. It's just that it tends to be less severe with this on board."
The monthly treatment was available to George until recently, when he aged-out.
In September, Dempsey applied to the Ministry of Health for special consideration, and attached a letter of support from SickKids that reads in part, "This patient is at high risk of severe RSV disease this winter and prevention strategies such as RSV prophylaxis is incredibly important to his overall lung health."
However, the ministry denied the request and with her son now in hospital, Dempsey is fearful for his future.
"He is in SickKids fighting for his life, intubated from a common cold virus that he could have had some sort of protection from," she said.
With RSV cases on the rise, Dempsey said she would continue to fight for an exemption for her son.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.