WSIB approves 45 denied GE health-care claims

A total of 45 former workers who contracted cancer or other illnesses from exposure to toxic chemicals at General Electric in Peterborough are getting compensation from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), even though their claims were previously turned down.

Eight of those accepted claims are fresh: they’ve occurred since Jan. 30.

Meanwhile, 45 claims have had their original rejections upheld.

That’s 10 more that there were on Jan. 30, and it ties the number of acceptances with the number of upheld rejections (previously, the acceptances outnumbered the rejections).

It’s all part of an ongoing process that began in September; that’s when WSIB reopened 250 claims from sick GE employees that had been rejected for lack of scientific evidence linking cancer to workplace chemicals.

In light of new scientific studies, WSIB is now reviewing the 250 claims (starting with cancer cases).

A rash of cancer diagnoses among former GE workers in Peterborough was first noted in the 1990s. Yet over the last 12 years, many workers who made claims to WSIB were turned down.

Meanwhile, new studies have emerged lately to link cancers to industrial toxins once used in the plant.

One was produced locally by retired occupational health researchers Bob and Dale DeMatteo, with help from several GE retirees and sponsorship from Unifor (the plant’s union).

It says that more than 3,000 toxic chemicals were used at GE in Peterborough between 1945 and 2000, before the plant was scrubbed clean. Of those 3,000 chemicals, at least 40 are either known carcinogens or are strongly suspected to cause cancer.

WSIB has been using the local study, among others, to re-examine the 250 rejected claims.

Now WSIB says it is nearly done reviewing 2/3 of the 250 cases, and that it’s nearly done all the cancer cases.

But one person who received an acceptance in December says she still doesn’t know how much money she can expect to receive.

Linda Thompson of Cambridge, Ont. said father, George Harvey, died of cancer in 1996. He worked at GE for more than 20 years, start-ing in 1946.

Although the previously rejected claim has been accepted, Thompson must provide further documentation to support the claim: she needs a CPP entitlement letter sent to her mother when her father died, for example, which is proving difficult to track down.

She also said she was told WSIB called GE and asked her father’s record of employment, but that phone call hasn’t been returned.

Thompson said she wonders whether officials at GE will ever call back; she’s concerned they never will.

“Are they going to just move to the U.S.? And say sayonara?” she asked.

GE spokesperson Jenna LaPlante stated in an email to The Examiner on Friday that the company will not comment on individual cases – but that generally, they’re supplying information when asked.

“GE has, and will continue to cooperate with the WSIB by providing available information as requested,” she wrote.

When asked whether GE is replying promptly to their inquiries, a spokesperson for WSIB said yes.

“GE has worked cooperatively to have staff in place to respond to our requests for information, and we are continuing to review claims,” wrote WSIB public affairs manager Christine Arnott in an email to The Examiner.

Still, Thompson said she’s had to track down a “mind-blowing” number of documents to support her father’s claim, including his birth certificate, death certificate, marriage license and even receipts for his funeral expenses from 1996.

Thompson says she’s exhausted and frustrated, and wants closure.

“It’s not about the money, to me – it’s an acknowledgement of all the years (my father) gave,” she said.

Arnott said the WSIB is aware that families are going through stress.

“We know people in Peter borough going through this process want answers,” she wrote.

“We are working as quickly and thoroughly as possible to review each claim and apply the latest scientific research and evidence so that people can access the benefits and services they may be entitled to.”

The WSIB review came after Ontario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn said he wanted it done.

On Friday, Flynn wrote in a statement to The Examiner that WSIB promised to do there view“expeditiously ”, and he’s watching closely to ensure that happens.

He also stated that he wants everyone involved to work together.

“I expect all employers, including GE, to provide the WSIB with the information that it requires to conduct investigations and ensure that workers and their beneficiaries receive the help and justice they deserve.”

Here’s more from WSIB, on how the process of re-examination is coming along: 45 claims have been approved; 45 additional claims have had the original rejection upheld; Nearly all the cancer cases have already been reviewed (those were done first).

WSIB searched for contact information or next of kin in 53 claims that had been abandoned. In nine cases, they found them – and of those claims, two have been accepted and seven are under review;

Another 88 new claims have been filed and are under review (in addition to the 250).