A complaint has been filed with British Columbia鈥檚 Human Right Tribunal over clinic fees paid by some of those who get opioid treatments.
Vancouver lawyer Jason Gratl says his clients, Garth Mullins and the B.C. Association for People on Opioid Maintenance, have filed the complaint on behalf of those 鈥渨ho paid out-of-pocket private clinic access fees鈥� for opioid agonist treatments.
Gratl says the current system requires patients to pay private clinic access fees ranging from $60 to $100 per month in order to receive advice or prescriptions from a practitioner who鈥檚 enrolled in the Medical Services Plan.
He says in a release that the model 鈥渢argets鈥� drug users 鈥渙n the basis of discriminatory attitudes and stereotypes鈥� and violates provincial law that expressly prohibits the fees where publicly funded health services are provided.
The complaint calls for an end to the current access fee model and for the province to pay those fees under the public health-care system.
Gratl says his clients also want the province to reimburse the fees already paid by members of the class covered in the complaint.
鈥淭his funding model impedes access to medical treatment for persons seeking to control and stabilize their substance use disorders,鈥� Gratl says in the release.
鈥淩equiring patients to pay out-of-pocket clinic fee(s) discriminates against persons with substance use disorder(s) who attempt to seek medical treatment.鈥�
The B.C. Health Ministry did not immediately provide a response to a request for comment.
The complaint dated Feb. 25 says Mullins, a Vancouver-based podcast host and activist, is the director of the association and a 鈥減erson receiving opioid maintenance treatment.鈥�
鈥�(Opioid agonist treatment) is a medical treatment necessary to treat a medical condition and disability,鈥� the complaint says.
