National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen asks the government on Friday to apologize to Q fever patients. This is the third time such a request has been submitted. Many patients still suffer from complaints fifteen years after the outbreak of the epidemic.
By apologizing, those affected want to gain “recognition and acknowledgment” of those complaints. This was stated in the study “Living with Q fever” presented on Friday by the Office of the National Ombudsman.
According to research, patients still suffer from major problems in the medical, social and financial areas. “They suffer from extreme fatigue, and physical exertion is often difficult,” the National Ombudsman wrote. “It makes their world smaller and smaller.”
A similar request was also made in 2012 and 2017, when the National Ombudsman's Office also investigated the consequences of the pandemic. The disease broke out in 2007 on a goat farm in the town of Herpen in Brabant. Thousands of people were injured
For these people, there is a “need for easy access to facilities,” the national ombudsman wrote. He therefore calls on the government “once again” to apologize to Q fever patients.
“It is now time for the government to take responsibility and not make the same mistakes it did in the past,” Van Zutphen wrote. “It's time to give Q fever patients perspective again. An apology from the government is a crucial first step.”
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