Patients with cancer asked to sign waivers on dangers of delays

The board of Canada's major cancer treatment centre—the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto—is considering this week whether to ask patients to sign waivers stating that they are aware of risks involved in joining a lengthy waiting list for radiation treatment.

A shortage of radiation therapists and medical physicists and growing numbers of patients with cancer have produced long waiting lists and forced hospitals in several provinces to send more than 800 patients to …