Re: C. difficile

For months, the Ontario PC Party has been calling on the McGuinty Liberals to institute mandatory reporting for C. difficile, hold a public inquiry to provide vital information to Ontarians and develop an action plan to curtail the spread of the infection. Public-health experts, unions and other groups have further urged the government to track outbreaks of the infection and inform the public instead of trying to downplay the crisis.

We have the wisdom of experts who have faced a C. difficile crisis before. Dr. Mark Miller has been explicit in his emphasis on providing "the whole picture" and tracking the "number of patients dying." I could not agree more.

Whether through chart review or a modified version, we must track the spread of the infection to create an effective action plan to address it.

While I commend the research that The Spectator has done, Ontarians have the right to hear information about C. difficile from their government, not only from newspapers. It is a sad situation when journalists are forced to take on the role of public-health spokespeople in order to provide Ontarians with much-needed information.

Almost 500 Ontarians have been killed by this deadly infection. It is time for answers.