Joint Review Will Look at Infectious Disease Processes

Health Minister Angus MacIsaac today, April 29, announced that every proper step is being taken to protect patient safety in light of a potential Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) diagnosis.

"Yesterday we learned about a breakdown in process at Capital Health during the hospital's investigation into this suspected case of CJD," said Mr. MacIsaac. "I want to reassure Nova Scotians that our main concern is patient safety. With that in mind, a joint review, involving the provincial Department of Health, Health Canada and Capital Health, is being undertaken to establish everything that has happened here and to help us apply the lessons we learn from this experience throughout our provincial health system."

The review will involve experts from the provincial office of the chief medical officer, Health Canada and Capital Health. The review will be conducted in a timely fashion and recommendations will be provided to the minister of Health before being made public.

This morning, Capital Health briefed senior officials with the Department of Health about the actions taken to date and their ongoing review process.

"I am satisfied that Capital Health took appropriate action once the breakdown was identified," said Mr. MacIsaac. "Patient safety is of utmost importance and Nova Scotians need to be satisfied that all efforts are being made to review the entire process in an objective way. That is one of my goals, as we participate in this review process. The other goal is to ensure that anything and everything we learn from this process is shared throughout our health-care delivery system across Nova Scotia, indeed, across Canada.

"We must also remember that this diagnosis is not yet confirmed and that, even among the 26 other patients involved, the risk of contracting CJD is deemed to be extremely remote," noted the minister.