Men 50-plus would be covered for prostate cancer tests: Liberals

Canadian Press

September 29, 2007 at 12:52 PM EDT

TORONTO — The Ontario government would pay for a prostate cancer test for men over the age of 50 if the Liberals are re-elected on Oct. 10, Health Minister George Smitherman pledged Saturday.

Prostate specific antigen tests, which Mr. Smitherman said are currently paid for by the province only when a doctor determines they are needed, would be covered under OHIP for all men aged 50 years or older.

“Most people would not have the resource of an OHIP-funded PSA test for preventative purposes,” he said in an interview.

“So, this is a very dramatic expansion of the OHIP coverage for the PSA test.”

The annual cost of extending the PSA test to all Ontario men over 50 is estimated to be $30-million, which Mr. Smitherman said would come from general government revenues. The province's health tax would help pay for the tests, he added.

He estimated the cost of the PSA test now stands at about $45.

Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in Canadian men, but it is also one of the most treatable cancers, Mr. Smitherman said. He added the Liberals decided on the 50-year-old cut off because physicians recommend men discuss PSA testing with their family doctors when they reach that age.

Mr. Smitherman says the province would work with groups such as Cancer Care Ontario, the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society to develop and implement the PSA test program.

In a release, Mr. Smitherman accused the previous Progressive Conservative government of slashing hospital funding by $170 million during their first two years in office.

Source

 

Commentary in the Globe and Mail October 1, 2007

  1. You (Ottawa Mens Centre.com, from Ottawa - Home of family court flagrant abusers of judicial POWER., Canada) wrote: 1-3 Its now 2007, for decades men have not been able to have this simple test for cancer covered by OHIP. I'm not impressed. All parties have been in power and all have failed to introduce this test and have it covered by OHIP. You could be on welfare and dead broke and not be able to have this test done. The liberals are now desperate for campaign ideas and fortunately, they have now used a little bit of intelligence and decided to do what should have done, could have done decades ago. But why have they take so long? Let me tell you why. Canada has an unofficial / official policy of Male Gender Apartheid. Male lives are not worth what female lives are. Women have had far more funding, far more tests available and if women had testicles you can bet your proverbiballs that they would have had this test covered on OHIP many years ago. Now the liberals should turn to the "next ball" which is the issue of a "Mandatory presumption of Equal Parenting after divorce. Right now, men are treated like second class human beings and women get custody 80% of the time. If a case is appealed the odds are a staggering 30:1 against fathers when it comes to costs. Take Kingston Ontario Family court where three feminist politically appointed judges have courtrooms where you can feel the hatred towards men oozing out of the walls. Take local Kingston Lawyer Lesley Kendall of Cunningham Swan Carty Little & Bonham. The public court records show that she did not like a judges order for an expedited trial of custody. You see a Justice W.G. Beatty was shown that a lawyer Joanne A. Barber wrote a false written submission that a father admitted committing perjury.
    • Posted 01/10/07 at 9:55 PM EDT
  1. You (Ottawa Mens Centre.com, from Ottawa - Home of family court flagrant abusers of judicial POWER., Canada) wrote: 2-2 Justice Robert N. Fournier in his decision then repeated as fact, the entirely false allegation of Timmins Lawyer Joanne A. Barber who also gave it the Timmins Police who without any corroboration charged the father with perjury. That charge was thrown out by a judge at trial in the superior court. Lesley Kendall knowing that the Fournier order was false, knowing it was fraudulently obtained, knowing that the charge was throw out in Superior court then brought an application in Kingston for a restraining order “to stop the litigation” which was an order for an expedited trial of custody by Justice W.G. Beatty in Sudbury. Lesley Kendall had no evidence of threats of violence towards the mother who was recently charged with 5 counts of assault by a judge of the Ontario Court who knew the facts, you see he had previous heard 3 trumped up charges against the father. Lesley Kendall was desperate for evidence so she grabbed an officer from the Kingston Police and wrote a false affidavit alluding that she was threatened by the father. Lesley Kendall then argued the motion and presented her own evidence that “he threatened me”. She asked Justice Denis Power to do indirectly what he could not do directly, she asked him to end litigation ordered by a judge by issued a restraining order permanently banishing the father from Kingston and to issue draconian order for costs that added up to $20,000. It’s a matter of public record that Lesley Kendall in January 2007 refused to deny the above allegations of F R A U D. Lesley Kendall now says her client will allow access but wants $20,000 up front. Billions of dollars are wasted in family court litigation. We need a Mandatory Legal Presumption of Equal Parenting after Divorce. Its time for Ontario Politicians to call an end to Male Gender Apartheid and clean up a cess-pool called Family Court. Note: all facts above are contained in public court documents and are available upon request. www.OttawaMensCentre.com
    • Posted 01/10/07 at 9:56 PM EDT

Source