The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) announced counsel for an Alberta organ transplant patient sent a demand letter requesting doctors accept her natural immunity to COVID-19 as an alternative to vaccination by Friday. .“The transplant program team, AHS (Alberta Health Services), and the hospital ought to accept Ms. (Sheila Annette) Lewis’ natural immunity to COVID-19 as an alternative to COVID-19 vaccination and reinstate her to the high priority transplant list immediately,” said JCCF-funded lawyer Allison Pejovic in a Tuesday press release. .“There is no principled or scientific reason as to continue to deny Ms. Lewis a life-saving organ transplant.” .Lewis is dying of a terminal illness. She had taken AHS, an Alberta hospital, and six transplant program physicians to court over their refusal to proceed with a life-saving treatment because she was unvaccinated..She challenged the constitutionality of vaccine mandates for transplant candidates put in place by these parties for more than one year. The Alberta Court of King’s Bench and the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled against her, finding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Alberta Bill of Rights do not apply. .Lewis filed a court application to the Supreme Court of Canada in January, asking it to hear her case. .READ MORE: Edmonton woman denied transplant over vax status to head to Supreme Court.She asked the Supreme Court of Canada to clarify public healthcare providers’ obligations under the Charter to patients within their provincial healthcare programs, the role of it and provincial bills of rights legislation in the healthcare sphere, and whether it protects dying Canadians’ right to life without a condition of taking an experimental drug which has caused injury and death..“Ms. Lewis is nearing the end of the legal road,” said Pejovic. .The release said Lewis provided her doctors in the Alberta Transplant Program with a privately-funded medical report establishing she has strong natural immunity to COVID-19 and had overcome previous infections on March 29. .It said one of the transplant physicians informed her on April 3 that despite the test results which show she has natural immunity, no changes have been made to the mandate, so she would need to receive the vaccines before they would agree to give her the transplant. The physician told her even with natural immunity, she would need a booster dose. .This case is under a publication ban. Due to a court order, the JCCF cannot reveal the names of the doctors, the hospital, the city where the transplant program is located, or the name of the organ needed for surgery. .The release went on to say Lewis asked her physicians one year ago to test her blood for COVID-19 antibodies to see if she was naturally immune, and they refused to do so. With private funding, it said she had her blood analyzed at Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation as part of her enrolment in a study about antibodies. .The report said her blood sample supports the presence of COVID-19 immunoreactivity, shows she was likely infected with the virus in 2021, and confirms she was infected with it again recently and has high levels of antibodies against it. .The study found for the majority of participants with natural immunity, the antibody levels are sustained for at least two years after initial infection. .Pejovic concluded by saying Lewis is protected from COVID-19 because she has had it twice. .“The refusal to accept Ms. Lewis’s natural immunity as an alternative to COVID-19 vaccination and give her life-saving surgery is indefensible and a disgrace,” she said. .Alberta Premier Danielle Smith bowed to the opinion of doctors in Lewis’s case in January. .READ MORE: Smith bows to doctors in case of woman denied transplant because of vax status.Smith said this is so doctors can make sure a patient doesn't experience organ rejection afterwards..“And the medical opinion was it's one of the things that ensures greater survivability," she said.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) announced counsel for an Alberta organ transplant patient sent a demand letter requesting doctors accept her natural immunity to COVID-19 as an alternative to vaccination by Friday. .“The transplant program team, AHS (Alberta Health Services), and the hospital ought to accept Ms. (Sheila Annette) Lewis’ natural immunity to COVID-19 as an alternative to COVID-19 vaccination and reinstate her to the high priority transplant list immediately,” said JCCF-funded lawyer Allison Pejovic in a Tuesday press release. .“There is no principled or scientific reason as to continue to deny Ms. Lewis a life-saving organ transplant.” .Lewis is dying of a terminal illness. She had taken AHS, an Alberta hospital, and six transplant program physicians to court over their refusal to proceed with a life-saving treatment because she was unvaccinated..She challenged the constitutionality of vaccine mandates for transplant candidates put in place by these parties for more than one year. The Alberta Court of King’s Bench and the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled against her, finding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Alberta Bill of Rights do not apply. .Lewis filed a court application to the Supreme Court of Canada in January, asking it to hear her case. .READ MORE: Edmonton woman denied transplant over vax status to head to Supreme Court.She asked the Supreme Court of Canada to clarify public healthcare providers’ obligations under the Charter to patients within their provincial healthcare programs, the role of it and provincial bills of rights legislation in the healthcare sphere, and whether it protects dying Canadians’ right to life without a condition of taking an experimental drug which has caused injury and death..“Ms. Lewis is nearing the end of the legal road,” said Pejovic. .The release said Lewis provided her doctors in the Alberta Transplant Program with a privately-funded medical report establishing she has strong natural immunity to COVID-19 and had overcome previous infections on March 29. .It said one of the transplant physicians informed her on April 3 that despite the test results which show she has natural immunity, no changes have been made to the mandate, so she would need to receive the vaccines before they would agree to give her the transplant. The physician told her even with natural immunity, she would need a booster dose. .This case is under a publication ban. Due to a court order, the JCCF cannot reveal the names of the doctors, the hospital, the city where the transplant program is located, or the name of the organ needed for surgery. .The release went on to say Lewis asked her physicians one year ago to test her blood for COVID-19 antibodies to see if she was naturally immune, and they refused to do so. With private funding, it said she had her blood analyzed at Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation as part of her enrolment in a study about antibodies. .The report said her blood sample supports the presence of COVID-19 immunoreactivity, shows she was likely infected with the virus in 2021, and confirms she was infected with it again recently and has high levels of antibodies against it. .The study found for the majority of participants with natural immunity, the antibody levels are sustained for at least two years after initial infection. .Pejovic concluded by saying Lewis is protected from COVID-19 because she has had it twice. .“The refusal to accept Ms. Lewis’s natural immunity as an alternative to COVID-19 vaccination and give her life-saving surgery is indefensible and a disgrace,” she said. .Alberta Premier Danielle Smith bowed to the opinion of doctors in Lewis’s case in January. .READ MORE: Smith bows to doctors in case of woman denied transplant because of vax status.Smith said this is so doctors can make sure a patient doesn't experience organ rejection afterwards..“And the medical opinion was it's one of the things that ensures greater survivability," she said.
