Health Committee on June 13th, 2006

[Sonya Norris]

It came from the medical devices regulations, part 2, special access.

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Did you say that's been taken out?

[Sonya Norris]

I don't know why there's a change with what the application asks for; the application asks for a medical condition that they are treating.

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Is that where we get into the idea that small breast size is the medical condition being treated?

[Sonya Norris]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Do we have an amendment, Ms. Priddy?

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

The one I had suggested was “clearly medically necessary”.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Is that your amendment?

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Okay. We have an amendment on the floor. Does the mover see that as a friendly amendment to start with?

Madame Demers, do you see Ms. Priddy's amendment as a friendly amendment?

[An hon. member]

What did she say?

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

I said, “clearly medically necessary”. It could probably still use a little bit of work, but it's closer.

[Brenda Chamberlain, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

It's cIoser. The only thing about that is...what about psychological? What about that?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Just a second. I need an answer as to whether the mover sees that as a friendly amendment or not.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

With these two amendments, namely the one from Ms. Dhalla and the one from Ms. Priddy, it would probably be preferable, because saline implants are available on the market for persons with psychological problems.

We want the use of silicone gel implants restricted, because there is no clear proof that they do not cause health problems.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Let's have this for a recommendation, because we're getting bogged down here. Nancy and Sonya have come up with a recommendation. Go ahead.

This may work.

[Nancy Miller Chenier, Committee Researcher]

Thank you.

It actually means stopping the motion at the end of the first sentence. You have a preamble that has already laid out many of the conditions you want the Minister of Health to consider, and it gets the committee away from specifying access conditions that they may not have heard enough about, so if you say you're asking them to tighten the conditions, it would still relate back to the earlier data.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

You're saying to use just the first lines, with a period after “program”: “We are asking the Minister of Health to tighten the conditions of the special access program.”

Are you good with that as an amendment?

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia, MB]

You have to take out the fourth “whereas” to go with it. You would have to take out the fourth “whereas”.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

No, that's what it was intended for. That's what it was intended for, Steven; it's clearly written in Health Canada's program.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Excuse me; the clerk is suggesting that we would have to add “medically necessary”, rather than “breast reconstruction”.

Let's leave the preamble. Madame Demers, as the mover of the question, are you okay with that as an amendment?

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Mr. Chairman, I don't know if that goes far enough. If we merely ask that conditions be tightened, without being specific, then it's unclear as to how this will done. I want to prevent situations were restrictions are relaxed and implants are approved for breast augmentations. That's the only thing I trying to prevent.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Are you saying no, you don't see it as a friendly amendment?

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

No.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

All right.

Ms. Dhalla.