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Among the families who attended question period at Queen’s Park on Wednesday were Sasha Haughian and her husband Jamie Larocque, parents of two young boys with CF; one of their children was picked for a Vertex drug trial and is flourishing, and the other, who was not picked, is ailing.

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Also in attendance were Beth Vanstone and her daughter Madi; Madi has CF and is thriving, because Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario Liberals funded the Vertex drug she needs: Kalydeco.

It was Beth and Madi Vanstone who had a meeting with Christie Elliott a few months ago, at which time the minister promised to get the ball rolling with Vertex, saying to Beth, “It’s a no-brainer.”

Back in 2014, when the liberals were in power and similarly balking at funding the drugs, “Christine Elliott was saying how ridiculous it was that the drugs weren’t being funded,” said Beth. “Now she’s using all the same cop-outs the Liberal government used at the time.”

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A press conference was held prior to question period so that reporters could hear from Dr. Elizabeth Tullis, head of the Toronto adult Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at St. Michael’s hospital.

Dr. Tullis explained that in Ontario there are about 1,000 CF patients, a third of all patients in Canada. Between 50 and 60 of her CF patients die every year, despite advances in treatment, so she knows better than most how crucial to patients these new drugs are.

The fact that only one of Vertex’s four drugs is funded here, she said, “Is tragic, because these medications are life changing. They stabilize conditions. They actually make a very strong impact on how long you live.”