Their lawyer calls it "SARS-gate." But to Kenneth and Grace Laroza, it's less about catchy names than loss of life.
Their mother, Nelia, a nurse at North York General Hospital, died in June 2003 at age 51 from the second wave of SARS to hit Toronto.
So it was hard for the Larozas to listen from the benches of a Toronto court yesterday as an Ontario government lawyer tried to get their lawsuit tossed before a trial.
Nobody was immune from SARS, but the province is immune from SARS lawsuits, Crown counsel Lise Favreau told Ontario Court of Appeal judges, arguing provincial health officials owed no "duty of care" to hospital workers or patients exposed to the deadly disease.
That didn't sit well with Kenneth Laroza, 22, who told reporters he is suing to ensure health-care workers will be better protected during future public health crises.
"I want to make sure once something like this happens again, the people who are taking care of us are being taken care of," said Laroza.
