'The out-of-country program is a pressure valve

Family begs Ontario Health minister to intervene after OHIP refuses to pick up tab for surgery in U.S.

Liarn Reid needs eye surgery to save him from blindness but the Ontario government is refusing to pick up the cost of the procedure.

The Whitby boy, nearly 3, has a retinal condition known as Nome's disease. Without surgery, he'll lose his vision by the time he's 4. But with no qualified surgeons able to treat Reid in Ontario, the Reid family said they have no choice but to seek treatment in Michigan. However, they have been refused coverage by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan

multiple times.

The Reids came to Queen's Park Thursday to try to persuade Health Minister Deb Matthews to intervene.

Progressive Conservative MPP Christine Elliott, the health critic, brought up Reid's condition during question period: "Minister, Liam needs your help. There are no specialists in Ontario who are able to treat this child .... The appeals

process — you know or should know — has been completely exhausted. Only you can help this situation."

However, Matthews stood firm, saying she "cannot intervene in specific cases" but that the out-of-country program is there when expertise is not available here.

'The out-of-country program is a pressure valve. There is a process that one must go through to get approved for coverage," said Matthews, who also met with the Reids privately and assured them proper processes will be followed .Successful surgery in his left eye was performed by specialists in Michigan. They gave Reid some vision. He can see light and form. The family has paid $45,000 out of their own pockets for his medical care.

However, surgeons at the Hospital for Sick Children were unsuccessful in treating Reid's right eye in 2009, says mom Kristina Reid.

"The vision he did have in his right eye now is completely gone and there is no hope for vision in that eye any longer," she added. Only two children in Ontario suffer from Nome's. The Ontario government inexplicably finances the other child's treatment in the U.S. why is this child not treated?

The Hospital for Sick Children supports the family's request for treatment across the border, Kristina Reid said. "In his words, there was nothing more that could be done locally to treat Liam's condition."