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Index October 9 2007
Nova Scotia WCB Refuses to Acknowledge Symptoms - Gives Only $300/month to Unemployable Man."For the past 20 years, Kelly's been unable to work. The heavy medication causes his hands to often shake uncontrollably. He even had to have a section of his rib grafted to replace his dissolved jaw. All this came from falling off a ladder at work - the injury that caused him to get the jaw replacement to begin with. But he gets only five per cent disability from workers compensation - about $300 a month - because the compensation board has refused to acknowledge his bizarre symptoms."Man suing over illegal Teflon jaw implantHEALTH Immune system rejects plastic, attacks bonePAUL MCLEOD The Daily News Joseph Kelly remembers stopping in his tracks. The woman on TV was going through the same hell he was. Like him, the woman in the documentary had her ribs surgically transplanted to her face. She had the years of excruciating pain, the bones in her jaw completely dissolved, and even the daily handful of painkillers that often weren't enough. Most importantly, the woman, like him, had received a Vitek jaw implant. Kelly, a 49-year-old Mount Uniacke resident, sat down to watch more and learned many things he hadn't known. He learned the jaw implant he got in 1985 was never legally allowed to be sold in Canada. He learned there were hundreds, if not thousands, of Canadians out there like him, who had received the implant because doctors assumed it was legal because they could buy it. And he learned what was happening to his body. The Vitek implant in his jaw was made of Teflon, which the body rejects and attacks. But the immune system can't dissolve the plastic, and instead turns cannibalistic, dissolving the jawbone. "Without the medication, I'd be curled up in a ball on the floor somewhere," said Kelly. "I get headaches big time, screaming in pain. My head hurts so much that I become photophobic (sensitive to light) and then I start throwing up." Now Kelly is involved in a national lawsuit against Health Canada. The suit, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, claims the government failed to protect the health of its citizens. The lawsuit stems from Health Canada not issuing warnings about the implants. The perceived result is people like Kelly are being improperly diagnosed. For the past 20 years, Kelly's been unable to work. The heavy medication causes his hands to often shake uncontrollably. He even had to have a section of his rib grafted to replace his dissolved jaw. All this came from falling off a ladder at work - the injury that caused him to get the jaw replacement to begin with. But he gets only five per cent disability from workers compensation - about $300 a month - because the compensation board has refused to acknowledge his bizarre symptoms. "Because Health Canada, in my respectful view, has wantonly refused to issue a warning, all over Canada these people are seeing family doctors who have no idea what they're looking at," said John Legge, the Toronto-based lawyer who is one of those spearheading the lawsuit against the government. Legge said people like Kelly are being continually misdiagnosed. The immune system can't absorb the implant, but it does break it into shreds. Like pieces of shrapnel, the Teflon spreads throughout the body, causing the immune system to cannibalize itself in new areas. General practitioners are often baffled by the symptoms. "(Kelly has) got a stack of medical records saying his conditions are medically inexplicable, he needs a psychiatrist. It's unbelievable," said Legge. "This is absolutely a twilight-zone, living, slow-motion horror movie for these people." The government didn't know the implants were being used in Canada until 1990. By that time, Vitek had already gone bankrupt. No legal action was taken against the company. Lawyers across the country have been working almost eight years to get the lawsuit certified. Earlier this month Ontario's Superior Court of Justice ruled to allow the class action against the federal government. As for Kelly, doctors don't believe there will ever be any relief for the pain he's lived with almost half his life. Because he is considered unemployable, his family has taken a major financial hit and had to sell much of their assets. He now works as a carpenter from his home "to keep from going insane," and his wife works multiple jobs to try to keep up with bill payments. He laments that he, his wife, and his two daughters, now in their 20s, have had to give up on so much. "We ended up having to sell off our lake property which was going to be our retirement home," he said. "I had a Harley paid for. Things were great. But as soon as I ended up injured and sick, everything just disappeared." [email protected] http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=69541&sc=89 Back to Article Index |