Dear Editor,
Letter to Josie Osborne
Minister of Health
Re: Reinstatement of Brineura funding for Charleigh Pollock
I am writing to express my strong condemnation of the BC Government鈥檚 recent decision to terminate funding for Charleigh Pollock鈥檚 treatment with Brineura 鈥� an action that not only lacks compassion but defies both medical evidence and moral responsibility.
Charleigh is a 10-year-old child suffering from CLN2, a devastating form of Batten disease. Since early childhood, she has been receiving Brineura infusions, which have not cured her illness but have clearly improved her quality of life 鈥� reducing seizures, slowing cognitive decline, and helping her remain engaged with those who love her. This is not speculative. It is supported by clinical findings and real-world evidence observed by her medical team, family, and community.
To pull this life-sustaining treatment away based on the opinion of a faceless board鈥攐ne that appears to operate in a vacuum of bureaucratic indifference 鈥� is disgraceful. Particularly when that decision directly contradicts the lived evidence of Charleigh鈥檚 care team, and fails to consider the value of her continued comfort, dignity, and presence in her family鈥檚 life.
It is disturbing that this government would cut funding for a little girl鈥檚 essential medication citing cost, while at the same time allowing public funds to be recklessly squandered on bloated infrastructure projects, redundant committee appointments, and layers of political patronage. The hypocrisy is staggering: there鈥檚 no shortage of money when it comes to funding overspending of waste treatment projects to the tune of $3 billion, or compensating government insiders to sit on multiple boards. But when a child鈥檚 life is at stake 鈥� when every missed dose means irreversible neurological damage 鈥� you鈥檝e apparently decided the cost is too high.
This is a shameful and cowardly abdication of duty.
The statement that 鈥淚 wish the outcome were different鈥� is not only hollow but offensive when it comes from the very person who holds the power to make that outcome different. You, Minister Osborne, have the authority. The moral weight of this decision is yours. Deferring responsibility to advisory boards or 鈥渟hared jurisdiction鈥� does not absolve you of what amounts to a bureaucratic death-sentence for a child who depends on this treatment to live with any semblance of peace or purpose.
I speak not only as a concerned citizen but as a parent who has experienced the failures of this system firsthand. I鈥檝e watched as public health-care in British Columbia consistently failed to meet the needs of children like mine, until we stepped in privately and fought for what should have been delivered from the start. But not every family has the means or the connections to challenge the system. That is why we need leadership that protects the most vulnerable 鈥� not one that turns its back on them.
This is not a question of policy. It is a test of conscience.
I demand that the Ministry of Health immediately reinstate funding for Charleigh鈥檚 Brineura treatments and establish a compassionate, evidence-informed pathway for exceptional cases like hers to continue receiving care.
Anything less is not just negligent 鈥� it is inhumane.
Kevin Bigelow, 91原创 Meadows
