VISP aimed to curb vaccine injury lawsuits. Now, people are suing in 3 provinces
These incidents all occurred since 2021, when Sakamoto was injured and rushed to hospital after a rare adverse reaction from a COVID-19 vaccine.
Sakamoto was hospitalized for 17 days. For a time, she could not walk, talk, chew or focus.
The federal government announced a program in 2020 to help people like Sakamoto, pledging timely and fair support to the unfortunate like her who were seriously hurt after immunizations.
The program was supposed to spare the injured and fragile the cost and stress associated with litigation.
In Sakamoto's case, the program, called the Vaccine Injury Support Program, or VISP, did neither.
Instead of providing Sakamoto, of Lethbridge, Alta., with timely and fair financial support, she says that VISP and the outside consultants who were selected to administer it for the federal government — Oxaro Inc. — have only exacerbated her physical and psychological suffering.
'Extremely frustrating. Dehumanizing. Incredibly dismissive. Even abusive,' is how Sakamoto describes her experiences and dealings with Canada's VISP.
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Click to share quote on Twitter: "Extremely frustrating. Dehumanizing. Incredibly dismissive. Even abusive," is how Sakamoto describes her experiences and dealings with Canada's VISP.
Sakamoto made those comments in a sworn statement she filed in a class action lawsuit launched in the Alberta Court of King's Bench in 2024. She is a lead plaintiff against the federal and provincial governments in this Alberta court case.
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Excerpts from Carrie Sakamoto's 2024 sworn affidavit, which was filed in an Alberta class action lawsuit. She harshly criticized Ottawa's Vaccine Injury Support Program. 1
Both Oxaro and the Public Health Agency of Canada, which hired Oxaro to run VISP in 2021, declined to comment on Sakamoto's case, allegations or criticisms of the federal program.
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In response to a 15-page list of questions from Global News about its VISP administration, Oxaro Inc. sent a series of written statements.
'The VISP is a new and demand-based program with an unknown and fluctuating number of applications and appeals submitted by claimants,' the company said.
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Ottawa consulting firm Oxaro Inc. was hired in 2021 to administer the federal government's Vaccine Injury Support Program. 1
'The program processes, procedures and staffing were adapted to face the challenges linked to receiving substantially more applications than originally planned,' Oxaro added. 'Oxaro and PHAC have been collaborating closely to evaluate how the program can remain agile to handle the workload on hand while respecting budget constraints.'
'We aim at providing a process that ensures that all cases are treated fairly and with the same care, respect, and due diligence,' the company added.
2:48
Whistleblowers allege 'high school' workplace inside federal program
Read Oxaro's statement here.
In an interview with Global News, Sakamoto said she does not think Oxaro should have been hired to administer VISP.
'I don't think they realized how many injured people were going to apply. And I think they're overwhelmed,' she added.
Lawyers representing Sakamoto and a group of plaintiffs alleged that the two governments provided the public with false, misleading and/or incomplete information about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, preventing the public from making an informed decision regarding vaccination.
The case and allegations against VISP highlight the depth of despair and frustration thousands of Canadians feel after being promised they would be taken care of if their immunizations triggered rare adverse reactions and they were injured.
Injured applicants like Sakamoto say they also face a revolving door of unreachable VISP case managers and arbitrary and unfair decisions.
The Alberta class action case remains before the courts. A hearing to determine if the class will be certified has been scheduled for mid-2026.
Both the federal and provincial governments have tried unsuccessfully to have the case dismissed. The Attorney General of Canada called the lawsuit 'frivolous, irrelevant, and improper.'
4:04
'Chaos' inside Federal Vaccine Injury Support Program
A Global News investigation into VISP published earlier this month revealed that Oxaro Inc. has received $50.6 million in taxpayer money, including $33.7 million spent on administrative costs, while injured Canadians received only $16.9 million.
(Payouts to the injured have since increased to $18.1 million in the latest reporting period, ending June 1, 2025. But Health Canada was unable to say yesterday how much more money Oxaro was paid above the $50.6 million tallied during the last reporting period.)
Global also found that PHAC and Oxaro underestimated the number of injury claims VISP would get, initially predicting 40 per year and then up to 400 valid claims annually. More than 3,317 applications have now been filed to June 1 — of those, 1,738 people are still waiting for their claim to be decided.
3:02
Federal Vaccine Injury Support Program leaving some injured people waiting for years
The government launched VISP as 'a no-fault system' in 2021, which was supposed to compensate injured and fragile Canadians without them having to pursue costly, stressful and time-consuming litigation against vaccine manufacturers and public health officials.
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However, a Global News investigation has found that five Canadians have now launched lawsuits against governments and manufacturers for injuries they allege are the results of the vaccinations, amid allegations that VISP has failed to support them.
They include Sakamoto and several of the injured and ill people featured in Part 1 of this investigation, including Ross Wightman of British Columbia and Ontario residents Kayla Pollock and Dan Hartman, whose 17-year-old son died suddenly in his room in the middle of the night after his vaccination. Read more about their stories here.
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British Columbia attorney Umar Sheikh. 1
Victoria lawyer Umar Sheikh represents several vaccine-injured people and others across Canada who claim they were injured by COVID-19 vaccines.
Sheikh argues that pushing people to file lawsuits for damages is contrary to the rationale of VISP, which intended to keep sick and vulnerable people out of courtrooms.
'These cases will cost between $20,000 and $40,000 in fees and costs. You're dealing with clients who are injured, who have no money, and they're not working,' added Sheikh, who represents Pollock.
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Carrie Sakamoto as she appeared in a selfie in 2019, prior to her vaccine injury in 2021. 1
Carrie Sakamoto shares Pollock's plight. Once a healthy and vibrant mother, she, her husband, and their three boys lived on a dreamy seed farm in the foothills near Lethbridge, Alta.
Now, she says her life is one in which the physical, psychological and emotional toll has been immense.
Everything in Sakamoto's life and family situation changed after her second COVID-19 shot during the pandemic.
Within a few hours of her vaccination on June 18, 2021, Sakamoto developed flu-like symptoms that worsened daily. Her health rapidly deteriorated. Her husband was sick, too.
While her husband, Shawn, got better, Sakamoto never recovered and ended up in hospital. She suffered from Bell's palsy, with severe head pain that still requires medication.
A Health Canada adverse reaction injury database shows Sakamoto is not alone: 216 people like her reportedly suffered Bell's palsy-like facial paralysis after vaccinations in the pandemic.
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Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
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Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak. Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Global News
2 days ago
- Global News
Tory MPs, health group call for investigation and overhaul of vaccine support program
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Story continues below advertisement 'Oxaro and PHAC have been collaborating closely to evaluate how the program can remain agile to handle the workload on hand while respecting budget constraints,' it added. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Oxaro also said that its monthly invoices to the government include documents and details, which in turn PHAC reviews and approves prior to payment. 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'It was a surprise to us because, you know, there are household names that you could think of that process health benefit claims.' Story continues below advertisement Global News reported that one of the unsuccessful bidders was Green Shield Canada, a national health-claims benefit manager with more than 60 years in the business. In its proposal to the government, Oxaro (at the time called RCGT Consulting Inc.), noted that its prior claims experience involved processing health insurance claims between 2012 and 2015 for a small regional insurer that became insolvent and entered a liquidation. It also runs a much smaller program for the government that hands out grants to the families of dead first reponders. PHAC said that a six-person committee that reviewed proposals from four companies 'unanimously' picked RCGT Consulting, over Green Shield and three companies. PHAC says it is reviewing Oxaro's five-year arrangement to administer VISP, which is up for renewal next year. A compliance audit was also launched last month after Global News started asking questions about Oxaro's management of claims. Want to contact us? Email or
Global News
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Alberta health experts say wastewater testing may offer early detection of measles
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Story continues below advertisement 'And finally, when you're taking measures to control it, that kind of surveillance can tell you whether the measures are working or not.' 2:09 Data from wastewater helps ease Alberta's pandemic data problem Dr. Xiaoli Pang, a professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta, has been testing wastewater from 12 treatment plants across Alberta, once a week, since April 1. 'We never can replace clinical testing, because we are not able to detect who is infected, how many people are infected — we are just, through the community, (doing) population-based monitoring,' said Pang. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Because the incubation period for measles can be up to three weeks — from exposure to the appearance of symptoms — Pang said the testing may be able to provide health officials with early detection of where outbreaks could occur, providing them with valuable information on where to focus their vaccination and education efforts. Story continues below advertisement The testing can also distinguish between the disease strain of measles and the strain used to produce the vaccine — which means it might also be useful to help determine how much of the population in a particular region has already been vaccinated. 'This disease is a predictable disease. If you apply a vaccine, you get protected, so that is important information for public health,' added Pang. 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Global News Despite the promising results, however, Pang said the wastewater testing program is short on funding. Story continues below advertisement 'I'm only able to plan to monitor measles until end of this year,' said Pang. 'I believe this virus is (going to) continue to cause a huge problem and we may not be able to continue. 'So that is a challenge.' 2:05 COVID-19: What is wastewater testing, and how effective is it? Global News asked the Alberta government if it plans to use wastewater testing to help in the fight against measles. The Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services provided a written statement that said, 'public health officials are reviewing this data to determine its relevance during the current outbreak. However, because measles is a notifiable disease with clear, recognizable symptoms, the vast majority of cases are identified through routine public health surveillance.' The statement continued, 'At this stage, measles wastewater surveillance is considered an exploratory tool and is not anticipated to support earlier case detection, as public health already has a clear understanding of where cases are occurring and how the virus is spreading.' Story continues below advertisement Talbot, however, who has been highly critical of the province's efforts to prevent the spread of measles, believes wastewater testing could be another valuable tool for the province to use. 'You know, the provincial government is fond of saying that getting immunized is a personal decision, which of course it is,' said Talbot. 'But they never go on to make the second point, which is that although it's a personal decision, it has consequences for other people.'
