If you’re going to be the government that yanks medication from the hands of dying 10-year-old girl, if you’re going to watch her die a slow and agonizing death because of your decisions, if you’re going to justify her suffering on the grounds of some larger protection of policy and procedures — well, you better have an iron clad case to withstand the public scrutiny.

The BC NDP government is learning that lesson the hard way as it fumbles through the case of Charleigh Pollock, the little girl from Langford with the ultra-rare disorder called Batten Disease.

Bit by bit, the rationale used by Health Minister Josie Osborne to withdraw medication for Charleigh is crumbling. And as it falls, the political backlash rises.

Experts in Batten Disease accompanied Charleigh’s family to a meeting with Osborne on Friday, bringing with them new evidence to support the continued funding of the drug Brineura, which they say is preventing seizures and prolonging Charleigh’s quality of life in her final few years of an incurable disease.

At the core of their argument is........

© BIV