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Cheryl’s verbatim testimony at today’s Blood Scandal Compensation Fund hearing (in Vancouver and broadcast to the main hearing in Toronto and to Montreal):
Thank you. I am Cheryl Reitz, Volunteer and Board Secretary at HepCBC Hepatitis C Education and Prevention Society, one of only five hepatitis C patient groups in our entire country. We are all very small and belong to the larger umbrella group mentioned yesterday, Action Hepatitis Canada. HepCBC’s participation here is in support of all victims of this tragedy, no matter in which year they contracted hepatitis C, nor to which Class they belong. I have 3 points to make:
As no one else has spoken on their behalf, I would like the Court to acknowledge the undiagnosed Class Members who cannot speak here for themselves. For those Class Members who died without knowing they had hepatitis C, and for their families, there will never be justice. And as noted yesterday, fewer victims came forward than expected. As Dr. Lee has said, chronically-infected people, even cirrhotics, can be asymptomatic for several decades. Many cannot recall being transfused, or were never told they were transfused, and are still being added to this settlement. After the initial shock of being told they have cirrhosis, or liver cancer, or need a transplant, they finally get that test for hepatitis C, then do a Blood Traceback. What has not been noted are these two facts: There is general agreement among experts such as the Cdn Assn for the Study of the Liver and the Cdn Liver Foundation, that among those who have hepatitis C in Canada, 75% were born between the years 1945 and 1975, and approximately 44% do not yet know they have it. If Canada were to initiate one-time testing of this age-cohort for hepatitis C, as has been done in the USA, we can presume an influx of newly-registered Class Members.
To address another concern noted yesterday, no hepatitis C organization has stepped forward to intervene in this case. This reinforces how tiny we are, mostly volunteer-run, and unable to mount such an action. It speaks to how stigmatized we are, that hepatitis C patients avoid even one another. The only Class Members who have developed this kind of voice are those with a non-stigmatized condition in common, hemophilia.
Finally, we wish to add our wholehearted concurrence with the testimony yesterday noting Members’ great difficulty with completing all the required forms which must be filled out. Our organization has helped several Class Members complete these, a process which often takes several years. This has been a very large hurdle, even a barrier to registration for many. For lack of time I cannot tell their stories today, but they are enough to bring tears to the most hardened. Ironically, one of the most common symptoms of our advanced liver disease is brain fog which brings great difficulty in concentrating and remembering, depression and self-isolation, which means there is often very limited support available. We fully support any initiatives that will bring assistance to Class Members in completing their applications, and extensions to the completion deadlines.
Thank you very much.