TORONTO - The family of a Toronto woman on life-support in a Mexican hospital said Monday that they believe she's being blocked from returning to Canada because of false fears over swine flu.

Victoria George, 29, has been in a Cancun hospital since Wednesday after suffering a severe asthma attack that sent her into cardiac arrest. She was on vacation with her husband and their five-year-old son.

Her prognosis is grim and loved-ones want her flown back to Ontario to say their goodbyes, efforts that relatives claim have been repeatedly denied because of the swine flu outbreak that's suspected of killing more than 140 people and sickening more than 1,000 others in Mexico.

Read story here.

Is Canada under ANY obligation to fly sick and/or dying Canadians home? From a pure compassionate POV I'd like to see it but monetarily it would cost a small fortune. We have private health plans that cover this when traveling don't we?

our provincial health care actually covers it for the most part.

In fact I have seen some cases where the provincial health care unit quite quickly flew people back from very very expensive USA.

It being Mexico, I kinda doubt that it is that expensive. Also of note, they only fly people back (expense or none) when it is 100% reasonable for the person to fly.
Seems to me that being on life support kinda precludes you from flying that much.

agreed, especially with the very real and legitimate concerns about this new flu that is killing people.

Their are air ambulances that could get her home , something maybe we are not aware of all the facts .

EXPENSIVE air ambulances.

They are a lot less expensive (+/- $75K) than keeping somebody in an ICU in the hospital. They have done this many times before I believe...in this case there appears to be something else going on.

Any idea what ICU care in Mexico city costs and what the same care in a Winnipeg ICU? If less in Mexico should we leave her there? Maybe the doctors believe her condition is too fragile to move just now.

What else do you suspect is going on? Fear of the swine flu thing? Racism? Surely there is a check list that the health care peeps follow to ensure citizens qualify for such air transport.

My question though is should taxpayers pay for anyone to be flown home if they are receiving quality health care at a comparable cost?

GOM...you don't understand. Health Care is FREE in Canada.

Of course it is. My bad.

If she is not expected to live, than it makes sense to ship her deceased body back to canada with Mexican trucking firm at a cost of $495, rather than wasting $100,000 ON AN AIR AMBULANCE! wHY WOULD YOU SEND SOMEONE WHO CANNOT BE SAVED IN AN AMBULANCE?

well she is dead now
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090429/national/swine_flu_stranded_cdn

one has to wonder if she would have died for certain if they had not forced her to move.

Who knows. As unfortunate as this is it is also a shame that the country is made to look evil. How many other countries immediately dispatch an air ambulance to return its citizens from other countries.

This is not much different than that convicted con artist that bitched because Canada would not transfer her from a Mexican jail to a Canadian jail.

Man are we spoiled.

grumpy old man wrote:Who knows. As unfortunate as this is it is also a shame that the country is made to look evil. How many other countries immediately dispatch an air ambulance to return its citizens from other countries.

This is not much different than that convicted con artist that bitched because Canada would not transfer her from a Mexican jail to a Canadian jail.

Man are we spoiled.

YEP

"How many other countries immediately dispatch an air ambulance to return its citizens from other countries."

umm Zero seems like the real answer.

very sad.

The reason we do it, and regularly I understand, is because it's cheaper to do so that to keep people in an American hospital.

Remember, an aspirin costs $750.00 in one of their ICU units.

Yeah, I expect that is true. In this case she was in a Mexican hospital. Same rationale?

I imagine they love gringo insurance money in Mexico too. Perhaps, not as much, but.....

While it is sad that this young mother passed at such an early age and the circumstances make it even more tragic, but I fail to understand how anyone can have any thought that government should be involved financially in her repatriation, either in life or death. We seem to value our frredom of choice to take a vacation in Mexico or wherever else in the world we can afford, but suddenly someone else should pay to bring us home if we fall ill or die. Certainly consular officials should assist in handling the bureacracy and provide information and options, but the costs are our own, not to be borne by the taxpayers.

If my car breaks down in Minneapolis, should I expect Harper to come down and bring me home? Its about the same analogy.

We're all turning into Commie Bastards.

Freeman if your car broke down and you contacted Harper and told him you voted for him and pledge your eternal allegiance, his comment should be contact the local service station.
This whole storey was a non-story. The dead lady had insurance coverage, and if you believe the reports there was zero chance of her surviving whatever she had.
If her insurance covered an air ambulance than she would have been given that!
If the problem, as reported in today's Globe, that there were no ICU spots in Toronto, than she should have been flown back and she should have been put in a hallway until a spot opened up!

RC, are you really the Amazing Kreskin? How else would you know what Harper told me when I called him from Minneapolis last year? Going to think twice before I vote for him again.

RC is actually harper in a very elaborate disguise

Great disguise!

I cann't tell if you are making fun of me, or joking with me!
Maybe you can post something to tell me the difference? :mad 040: