In 1996, Dr. Nancy Olivieri identified an unexpected risk associated with a drug she was testing to treat a rare blood disorder. When she moved to inform patients of this risk as required by medical ethics, the drug manufacturer, Apotex, terminated the research trial and threatened to take legal action.

This was the opening salvo in a long contest involving Olivieri, Apotex, Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, and the University of Toronto. Olivieri expected to receive support on the ethical issue from the hospital and the university, but neither institution provided effective support against ongoing legal harassment by Apotex. Intense media coverage followed the case from beginning to end.

The Olivieri Report is the report of an independent inquiry--commissioned by the Canadian Association of University Teachers--into the case, conducted by three widely respected Canadian academics.

JON THOMPSON is a professor emeritus in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New Brunswick. He is a former chair of the department and a former president of the faculty union at UNB. He chaired the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee of the Canadian Association of University Teachers during 1985-1988 and received the James B. Milner Award for contributions to academic freedom in 1993. He chaired the independent committee of inquiry commissioned by CAUT into the dispute involving Dr. Nancy Olivieri, the University of Toronto, the Hospital for Sick Children and Apotex Inc. (1999â??2001). He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Harry Crowe Foundation.

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PATRICIA BAIRD holds the position of University Distinguished Professor at the University of British Columbia and is a member of UBC's Department of Medical Genetics.

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Jocelyn Downie holds a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy. She is a professor in the Faculties of Law and Medicine and a faculty associate of the Health Law Institute at Dalhousie University. She has an honours B.A. and an M.A. from Queen's University, an M. Litt from the University of Cambridge, and LL.B. from the University of Toronto, and an LL.M. and S.J.D. from the University of Michigan. Prior to her graduate work in law, she clerked for Chief Justice Lamer at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Professor Downie's research interests include assisted death, the governance of research involving humans, and women's health law and policy. Her current work is geared to contributing to the academic literature and affecting change in health law, policy, and practice.

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