Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Liberal government are putting lives at risk by covering up the extent of the deadly C. difficile outbreak in Ontario hospitals, the province's opposition parties charged Tuesday.So why are the McGuinty Liberals trying to play down this situation? Even the Ontario Ombudsman is concerned enough to want to get a piece of this.
There have been at least 264 deaths at seven Ontario hospitals since 2006 from C. difficile, a drug-resistant bacteria that spreads in health-care institutions.
Ombudsman Andre Marin asked for the power to investigate families' complaints about C. difficile deaths at Ontario hospitals in his annual report issued last week, and said his office "would have been all over" the outbreak much earlier on if he had the authority.But that doesn't seem to concern the Premier and his political pals...
Marin, who called C. difficile a tragedy, questioned the government's hesitancy and suggested it was "trying to contain perhaps an embarrassing situation."
The government has rejected all calls for an inquiry, saying it learned enough from a coroner's review into C. difficile deaths in Sault Ste. Marie.I don't get it.
Health Minister David Caplan was not available Tuesday to comment on the C. difficile outbreak and the charges of a government cover-up.
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RELATED: A question asked...
The father of an Ontario man who died in police custody after being hit by a stun gun says he is angry that a taser was used on his son.And answered...
"I'm mad ... Did they have to use that taser thing?" Noel Marreel asked yesterday.
The father said his son had been in trouble with the law before. "He was not an easy child. He's been on drugs off and on since he was 16. You name it, I think he's tried them," he said.*
"He'd be good for a while and the downward spiral would start. Then he'd be going to jail and I would be bailing him out."