Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is bowing to the opinion of doctors in the case of a transplant candidate who was removed from the waiting list because she hadn't been vaccinated..Sheila Annette Lewis has filed a court application asking the Supreme Court of Canada to hear her case against Alberta Health Services (AHS)..Last year, Smith had vowed to get a second opining on Lewis' case.."I did seek advice from a transplant expert and one of the pieces I got back was that transplant decisions are very difficult to make because there's just a limited number of organs," Smith said on the Shaun Newman Podcast on Monday.."It's life threatening conditions, and they have to look at it through a lens of what gives the patient the recipient the greatest chance of survivability because they're on immuno suppressive drugs.".Smith added this is so doctors can make sure the patient don't experience organ rejection afterwards.."This is one of the new deadly viruses that are out there. And the medical opinion was that it (vaccine) is one of the things that ensures greater survivability," Smith said.."My second opinion, I didn't get anything that contradicted that. And so I'll watch the court play the process out.".Lewis is dying of a terminal illness. She's been challenging the constitutionality of COVID-19 vaccine requirements for transplant candidates put in place by AHS, an Alberta Hospital, and six transplant doctors, for more than a year..READ MORE: Edmonton woman denied transplant over vax status to head to Supreme Court.She was unsuccessful at both the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2022, with both levels of court finding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”) does not apply to the COVID-19 vaccine policies of AHS, the Alberta Hospital where she would receive her transplant, or her transplant doctors..Both courts also dismissed her claims under The Alberta Bill of Rights..Lewis’ Supreme Court of Canada Leave Application focuses on the national importance of her case..Lewis had renewed hope for her survival when Premier Danielle Smith announced Nov. 29, 2022 that she was seeking a second medical opinion in respect of the COVID-19 vaccine policy for transplant candidates..After that announcement, the transplant team contacted Lewis and told her she had 10 days to get the COVID-19 vaccines before they removed her from the transplant program entirely. ."I understand the frustration that people have, but I think that we have to be aware of there's just so many factors that go into determining the best patient and the likelihood of survivability," Smith said.."I'm just not qualified to make that kind of judgment. And so I think we do have to rely on the medical experts on this. And if there is some legal challenge that would overturn that, then we'll see how it goes and the Supreme Court."
