UPDATE:
JUNE 22, 5 p.m.
Dr. Joe Philip has issued the following statement:
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit's irresponsible attempts to link community members with Hepatitis C to dental care is a greater threat to public health than any dental work being completed by Dr. Joe Philip.
The recent statements from SMDHU come nearly two months after they were served with a $10 million dollar lawsuit by Dr. Philip over their mishandling of the investigation into his dental clinic.
By improperly suggesting that Dr. Joe Philip or, more broadly, dental work is a reasonable source of transmission of Hepatitis C, the Health Unit is undermining the public’s confidence in receiving dental treatment, which is important to maintaining overall health.
The Canadian Liver Foundation estimates that 250,000 Canadians are living with Hepatitis C, and approximately 44% of those who are infected do not know their status.
Hepatitis C is spread through blood to blood contact, meaning the blood of an infected person must enter the bloodstream of an uninfected person to pass the virus.
"I have reviewed the detailed allegations made against Dr. Philip's practice by the Health Unit and cannot see where the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has any reasonable or probable grounds to believe there is any chance of a health hazard based on their own admissions of Dr. Philip's sterilization practices. Their claims are not supported by any infection prevention and control peer-reviewed literature or best practices," said, Dr. John Hardie, who is a retired, former Chief of Dentistry at two major Canadian teaching hospitals, and who specialized in oral pathology. Dr. Hardie has published extensively on the subject of dental infection prevention and control.
Dr. Joe Philip has and continues to meet or exceed the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario's Infection Prevention and Control in the Dental Office sterilization protocols, which require sterilization well beyond a degree necessary to avoid blood to blood contact among patients.
With 1 in 150 Canadians infected with Hepatitis C, it should be reasonably expected that every dental practice in Canada is treating at least 10-30 patients annually, depending on practice size, who carry the virus, without putting their patients who do not carry the virus at risk.
"The Health Unit's irresponsible and unfounded statements pose a serious risk to the genuine health and well being of Ontarians by distorting the facts to claim there is a risk of Hepatitis C transmission where there are no facts to suggest at any time any instruments used in my practice were not adequately sterilized," said Dr. Joe Philip. "Further, Dr. Colin Lee's mischaracterizations of the reality of Hepatitis C in the community will likely further stigmatize those who are infected with the virus from seeking and finding a range of treatments, as seemingly, any medical or dental practitioners who treat them are presumably subject to blame for their condition in the first place."
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ORIGINAL STORY:
NEWS RELEASE
SIMCOE MUSKOKA DISTRICT HEALTH UNIT
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The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit would like to provide further information to the public with respect to the infection prevention and control issue at the dental clinic located at 18 Wyandotte Street in Orillia previously known as Joe Philip and Associates between Jan. 1, 2012 and Dec. 18, 2017.
One of the two reports of hepatitis C cases is a child. The child’s mother has verified that the child received dental treatment at the clinic during the period of concern and went for testing as a result of our media release.
After the child unexpectedly tested positive, the mother sought a subsequent test for herself, which was returned negative and showed that she was not infected with hepatitis C.
The Canadian Pediatric Society has stated that in Canada, almost all childhood cases of hepatitis C are transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and at birth. However, the mother’s negative test for hepatitis C indicates that the child did not contract hepatitis C during pregnancy or at birth.
Improperly cleaned and sterilized medical and dental instruments can spread infectious diseases, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
This is why we continue to recommend that for those patients who received treatment at the clinic between the dates noted above, they should discuss possible testing with a health care provider. While the risk of transmission is low, it is not zero.
Dr. Colin Lee,
Associate Medical Officer of Health
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit
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