Ontario Taking Action to Protect Patient Privacy and Improve Transparency

Ontario intends to introduce legislation today that, if passed, would improve privacy, accountability and transparency in the health care system with new measures that put patients first.....



More:
http://news.ontario.ca/mohltc/en/2015/09/ontario-taking-action-to-protect-patient-privacy-and-improve-transparency.html

Ontario will introduce legislation to tackle privacy violations of health records

The Ontario government will soon table legislation to clamp down on privacy breaches like alleged violation of former mayor Rob Ford (open Rob Ford's policard)’s medical records, says Health Minister Eric Hoskins.

http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/03/30/ontario-will-introduce-legislation-to-tackle-privacy-violations-of-health-records.html

Canadian drivers should worry about privacy: report

Telematics worries: Report funded by Privacy Commissioner raise serious concerns about what cars know about drivers

Hamilton Spectator

By Craig Desson

 

MORE, source:

http://www.insidebrockville.com/news-story/5533618-canadian-drivers-should-worry-about-privacy-report/

 

’Backroom deals’ keep problem MDs out of the public eye

“Undertakings” to resign or restrict practice let some doctors accused of injuring, sexually abusing or improperly prescribing narcotics to patients avoid disciplinary hearings.

Brenda Waudby was wrongly implicated her daughter's death by former forensic pathologist Charles Smith.

By: Theresa Boyle Health, Published on Sat Feb 28 2015

 

Ontario’s medical watchdog has made “backroom deals” with more than 200 doctors considered “high risk” to the public to quietly resign or restrict their practices, a Star investigation has found.

Some have been the subject of complaints about errors as serious as botching surgeries, injuring mothers and babies during childbirth, sexually abusing patients, and abusing and improperly prescribing narcotics.

The deals, struck by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario over the past decade, are officially known as “undertakings.” Many were made in exchange for having investigations or prosecution plans dropped.

Medical negligence lawyers have long complained the deals are made behind closed doors, with no input from harmed patients. The public is kept in the dark about rationale and context.

Patients’ lawyers argue Ontarians can learn more about physicians from websites such as RateMyMD than from the self-regulator’s online register, which is intended to help patients choose doctors.

While there may be value in some of the undertakings, it’s hard to know because of the dearth of information, they say.

Toronto Star File Photo 

Medical negligence lawyer Paul Harte argues there's no law that actually prevents the College of Physicians and Surgeons from being more transparent about undertakings. 

The lack of transparency translates into a lack of accountability from both physicians and the college, they charge, adding that patient safety and public confidence in the health system are ultimately compromised.

Critics argue more cases should be dealt with through public disciplinary hearings instead, but that would take more time and resources.

The CPSO defends its use of undertakings, arguing they are effective tools to “protect the public interest.” Complaints or concerns with doctors prompt investigations or referrals to the college’s discipline committee, which are resolved through resignations or practice restrictions, thereby keeping the public safe, according to the college.

Undertakings are enforceable. Breaches can result in investigations or disciplinary action being re-started.

The CPSO says it is working to make more information publicly available through an ongoing “transparency project,” but is restricted by legislation in how far it can go.

Lawyers who represent doctors say it would be unfair to publicize unproven allegations.

Doctors and Discipline

• Video
  Doctors who supervised disgraced pathologist Charles Smith never faced disciplinary hearingcomments
• Injured patients forced to appeal to get doctor disciplinedcomments
• Examples of doctor restrictionscomments

• 
  Reasons for restrictions on Ob/Gyn not posted on overseers websitecomments
• Video’Backroom deals’ keep problem MDs out of the public eyecomments
• Woman seeks hearing for surgeon who removed normal ovarycomments

AN ANALYSIS of physician profiles on the CPSO’s website, from 2005 to 1014, inclusive, shows that 164 doctors struck deals with the college — outside of the public eye — resulting in restrictions being placed on their practices.

Among them are doctors who can no longer see any patients but still have “M.D.” beside their names, surgeons who can no longer do surgery, and physicians who can no longer prescribe narcotics.

The public register offers no explanation for why the deals were made. There is no mention of allegations or complaints.

A large number of restrictions have been erased from the register. The college posts only those currently in effect and deletes those that applied to physicians in the past.

“The public has no idea what is going on. The public might view a doctor differently if they were aware of the history of undertakings and if they knew why they were there,” says Joni Dobson, chair of the medical malpractice section of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association.

MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE lawyers decry the “secretive process” of cutting deals and charge that the college is shielding doctors from public scrutiny.

There is no explanation of how the process works on the college’s website.

“Who knows if the deals are reasonable or unreasonable,” says Toronto lawyer Paul Harte, who has been leading the charge for more college transparency. “Without any way of figuring this out, what we have is backroom deals.”

More cases should be handled by the college’s discipline committee to allow greater transparency and enable physicians to learn from the mistakes of peers, he argues.

Discipline proceedings are open to the public and the decisions and written reasons stemming from them are also public.

Public confidence in the health system is at stake when cases that should go to discipline are instead resolved through undertakings, said the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board, which has authority to reconsider CPSO decisions.

HPARB made that comment in a 2012 decision that overturned a college ruling allowing an obstetrician-gynecologist accused of bungling surgeries to resign instead of facing a disciplinary hearing.

“The public’s perception of, and faith in, the medical profession” must be taken into account when making decisions to protect the public interest, the board’s written decision states.

“The alleged egregious breach of the standard of care . . . necessitates a full airing before the discipline committee in order not to bring the administration and provision of medical services in this province into disrepute,” it said.

College spokesperson Kathryn Clarke says undertakings protect the public by mitigating the potential for future problems.

“For example, a doctor may enter an undertaking to restrict his practice where there has been a concern raised about that practice area and the physician is prepared to make an agreement to practise differently, or not practise at all, and the public is protected,” she says.

Clarke takes issue with criticism over the lack of transparency, pointing out that the fact a doctor has agreed to a resignation or restriction undertaking is noted on that physician’s profile on the register.

THE STAR’S investigation identified 36 deals in which physicians in trouble with the college quietly resigned. In exchange, the college dropped investigations into 19 doctors, as well as plans to hold public hearings and prosecute 13 others. (The register does not say what the quid pro quo was for an additional four resignations.)

There are 17 more cases of doctors voluntarily resigning prior to undertaking never to practice medicine again.

Allegations that led to most resignation undertakings are included on the register. Among them: incompetence; professional misconduct; disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct; and failure to maintain the standard of practice.

The register provides no context for most of these allegations, though underlying complaints were mentioned for a few: Four doctors were accused of sexual abuse, one of being in possession of child pornography, and one of failing to maintain the standard of practice in relation to 26 patients.

(The Star did not include in its analysis undertakings that the college’s discipline committee took into account when imposing penalties. Details of these deals are made public in hearings. Also excluded were interim undertakings, which restrict physicians’ practices until they appear for hearings.)

TORONTO MEDICAL negligence lawyer Amani Oakley says shining the light of transparency on undertakings is key to reducing medical errors.

“We are not going to get a handle on all these errors if we keep huddling in dark corners, making hush-hush deals with some of the folks who are responsible for these medical mistakes,” she argues.

The 2004 study on patient safety in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that “adverse events” occur in about 7.5 per cent of hospitalizations. These are unintended injuries or complications resulting in death, disability or prolonged hospital stay that arise from health-care management.

Of almost 2.5 million annual hospitalizations, about 185,000 result in adverse events. Of those, close to 70,000 are potentially preventable. (Some adverse events are the unavoidable consequences of health care, such as unanticipated allergic reactions to antibiotics.)

“We need to air out the problems, examine them in the light of day, and let the victims express their concerns and share their experiences so that other health-care providers can learn from the mistakes of others,” Oakley says.

Dobson warns patient safety is jeopardized when people are denied information that could affect their choice of doctor.

“Those who practise medical negligence know that patient ignorance is not bliss …. There is no reliable place to find information about doctors. Instead, patients must rely on gossip or doctor ratings websites. While both may be entertaining, neither is particularly reliable,” she wrote in a recent blog post on her association’s website.

Critics contend the college prefers to dispose of cases with undertakings rather than disciplinary hearings because the former are expedient. Hearings typically involve big investigations and the expenditure of a lot of time and resources.

“They don’t want to spend the money to go through the legal process of prosecuting through the discipline committee,” charges London, Ont. Lawyer Barbara Legate.

It’s an accusation the college denies.

“The college would virtually always pursue discipline if the physician is still practising and we have the evidence needed to obtain a discipline finding,” Clarke says.

Undertakings are useful when the college doesn’t have enough evidence to successfully prosecute a doctor at a hearing, she said.

Clarke points out that a resignation undertaking may offer more public protection than a licence revocation, the harshest penalty that can result from a disciplinary hearing. Physicians who have had their licences revoked can reapply for them down the road. But that’s not the case if they have agreed to undertakings never to do so again, in Ontario or any other jurisdiction.

Lawyer Lonny Rosen, who represents health professionals in trouble with regulatory colleges, argues that physician privacy must be taken into account when disposing of cases.

“It wouldn’t be fair to disclose unproven allegations, particularly when there is no risk to the public. Just because someone is curious about the underlying facts doesn’t mean that it is in the public interest for them to have that information,” he says.

An undertaking can effectively address potential concerns with a physician, even without admission of allegations, says Rosen. It can be preferential to a disciplinary hearing, which is “a terribly punitive process for the member, the complainant and for any other witnesses. It’s an adversarial system and stakes are high.”

Health Minister Eric Hoskins has said improving transparency in the health system is one of his top priorities. Last October, he ordered all health regulatory colleges to step up efforts to give the public greater access to information.

“The default in our health system should be disclosure,” he said in a written statement, when asked about whether there should be more transparency around undertakings.

Since 2012, the CPSO has been engaged in a transparency project that aims to make more information about doctors publicly available. It is looking at posting more information about undertakings on its register.

Currently, it posts whether physicians have undertakings reflective of “high risk,” namely those that involve resignations or restrictions.

But there are many others the college deems reflective of less risk, which are kept under wraps. It declined to reveal the exact number.

Undertakings reflective of “no/minimal risk,” “low risk,” and “moderate risk” can result from patient complaints or from problems flagged by the college’s own practice assessment program, which sees doctors review the work of peers.

The lower risk undertakings include agreements to comply with a particular college policy or guideline, participate in remedial education, and work with a mentor or supervisor. Monitoring agreements that arise over concerns with physicians’ health are also kept confidential.

The college is looking to make public any undertakings that reflect moderate risk. Clarke says some contextual information about undertakings might find its way onto the register as well.

“If it is something where we think patients would want to know and that it is going to make a difference to them in choosing what doctor they go to, then we want to make that public,” says CPSO president Dr. Carol Leet.

Last year, CPSO staff proposed amending a bylaw to allow more information about undertakings to be posted on the register.

But the college’s governing council nixed that idea last December. Undertakings were dropped from a list of proposed topics to be included in a public consultation on transparency and bylaw changes, which is currently underway.

Now the college is considering a policy change to make more undertaking information public.

Clarke says the college is limited in how transparent it can be, by legislation.

Section 23 of the Health Professions Procedural Code (Schedule 2 to the Regulated Health Professions Act) lays out what information should be included on the register. While it does not use the term undertakings, it says the register shall contain “the terms, conditions and limitations that are in effect on each certificate of registration.”

The college contends the legislation precludes it from including some information on the register.

“If, for example, a practice restriction is imposed arising from an investigation or a practice assessment, information stemming (from) those processes are not public by law and, thus, only the fact of the restriction is included on the public register,” Clarke says.

But that’s not how Harte reads it.

“This is an important point because the college has a history of claiming that they are unable by law to be more transparent. More often than not, the decision is a pure policy decision. There is no law prohibiting them from being more transparent,” he argues.

“The underlying premise here is that there should be transparency, above all. Since we can’t evaluate whether the college is making appropriate decisions, it’s difficult to know if they are really in the public interest.”

With data analysis by Andrew Bailey.

Theresa Boyle can be reached at tboyle@thestar.ca or (416) 869-4915.

More stories on undertakings

Examples of doctor restrictions

Reasons for restrictions on Ob/Gyn not posted on overseers website

Woman seeks hearing for surgeon who removed normal ovary

Doctors who supervised disgraced pathologist Charles Smith never faced disciplinary hearing

Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/02/28/backroom-deals-keep-problem-mds-out-of-the-public-eye.html#

Patients can sue hospitals for invasion of privacy, appeal court rules

The ruling upheld an earlier decision that said the province’s health privacy laws do not bar patients from seeking legal action against hospitals if their privacy is breached.

By: Olivia Carville Staff Reporter, Published on Wed Feb 18 2015
 

In a potentially precedent-setting decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal granted patients the right to sue hospitals over privacy breaches Wednesday.

The unanimous ruling said provincial health privacy laws are not a roadblock to patients who want to seek justice in the courts when their medical records are snooped into by hospital workers.

The decision comes on the heel of aStar investigation into health-related privacy violations and oversights in Ontario’s health privacy legislation.

“This case is a vindication for all of those victims the Star has been writing about,” said Michael Crystal, lawyer for the patients.

Wednesday’s ruling could have sweeping implications for the province’s 155 hospitals as it has given the green light to a multimillion-dollar privacy class action launched against Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

Peterborough hospital would not answer questions from the Star about whether it intends to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada, its last chance to get the case tossed out.

A massive privacy breach at the hospital between 2011 and 2012 saw hundreds of patient medical records snooped into and seven staff members fired. The breach included a domestic violence victim who was in hiding and 414 abortion files that were inappropriately accessed by a high profile anti-abortion campaigner.

A group of affected patients launched a $5.6-million privacy class action against the hospital, which in turn fought to have the case thrown out in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, arguing the courts had no jurisdiction over health-related privacy breaches.

The crux of the hospital’s argument was that health privacy violations were the sole domain of the privacy commissioner and that the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) ousts the jurisdiction of the courts.

The Superior Court ruled against the hospital so it took the fight up to the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the case Wednesday.

In its decision, the appeal court said health privacy legislation does not exclude the jurisdiction of the courts. Health privacy laws were tailored to handle “systemic issues rather than individual complaints,” the court said.

Peterborough Regional Health Centre declined to comment on the decision, saying “this matter remains in litigation before the courts.”

In a written statement to the Star Wednesday, a Peterborough hospital spokesperson said the center had a “zero tolerance policy with respect to inappropriate access to medical records.”

The hospital has 60 days to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Acting Information and Privacy Commissioner Brian Beamish told the Star he was “very pleased” with the ruling.

All patients who are victims of privacy violations should have the option of filing a complaint to the privacy office or taking civil action, Beamish said.

Under PHIPA, the privacy commissioner’s office acts as a watchdog over health institutions, ensuring they are protecting patient information and abiding with privacy laws.

It is not up to the privacy commissioner, however, to determine whether a patient should be awarded monetary damages. The commissioner only has the power to recommend the Attorney General launch a prosecution under PHIPA, which allows for fining individuals up to $50,000 and institutions up to $250,000 if found guilty.

Only one prosecution has been lodged so far under the act, which was introduced in 2004.

“This was a really important issue to get judicial guidance on,” Beamish said.

Ontario, once a leader in health-information privacy laws, now seems to be lagging behind as other provinces tighten up reporting. Earlier this year the Star found that eight other jurisdictions have passed laws to force hospitals to report breaches to the appropriate privacy body.

The heart of the Peterborough case is “snooping” — where hospital staff willfully break the law by accessing medical records when they have no authority to do so, such as in the recent Rob Ford privacy violations, he said.

Health care workers can only access a patient’s medical record if they are involved in their care and, Beamish said, the Peterborough breach “highlights how seriously this issue of snooping needs to be taken.”

The lead plaintiff of the Peterborough case is Erkenraadje Wensvoort, who was in hiding when she had an operation at the hospital. In the statement of claim, she alleges that she had left an abusive relationship after 51 years of marriage.

Wensvoort says she was told a staff member had opened her file without authorization and she feared her allegedly abusive ex-husband had “paid someone to access her patient records in order to find her,” the decision read.

There is no evidence linking Wesnvoort’s ex-husband to the inappropriate access of her record, according to Crystal, her lawyer.

The court awarded Wensvoort $24,000 for the legal fees associated with the appeal.

Crystal, who is the lawyer for all the Peterborough patients, said the court’s ruling grants patients “access to justice.”

“The highest court in Ontario has spoken and said invasion of personal health information is not something that is simply the domain of the privacy commissioner,” he said.

“Patients do not have to go through the administrative nooks and crannies of PHIPA legislation to achieve access to justice.”

If the latest decision is not appealed by the hospital, Crystal said the next step would be setting dates for a motion of certification for the Peterborough case.

Privacy commissioners from other parts of Canada told the Star earlier this year that they have noted a rising trend of health-care professionals snooping into private medical records with malicious intent.

Source: http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2015/02/18/patients-can-sue-hospitals-for-invasion-of-privacy-appeal-court-rules.html

DELAY DENY wait for them to DIE at the SST

Dear Murielle Brazeau:

                     T h i s  C o r r e s p o n d e n c e  h a s  m a n y  p a r t s

                              Submission to the Social Security Tribunal

This letter has taken along time for me to write given my headaches and mixing up letters of the alphabet. I was hit head-on by a young man speeding in his car back in 2007. GD5-15, GD10-421.

I want to say thank you to all the people that help me edit my letters and blog postings. Thank you. If it were not for you, my letters would not be so coherent, and family friendly. Unfortunately my patience is running out.

This letter addresses my Canadian Pension Plan Disability Application. It also advocates for the 11,000 people that have little voice waiting in the Social Security Tribunal backlog, awaiting more bullshit from the Social Security Tribunal denial team, that is part of the Service Canada denial team, that is part of the Insurance denial team, that denies legitimately injured Canadians that have paid into the Canadian Pension Plan for many decades access to clearly entitled benefits to survive on.

I am considering sending this letter to The Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney. Hopefully when he reads it he will respond accordingly.

Medical File – Privacy Issues

I acknowledge receipt of my Medical file that was left on a bench in front of our house on December 3, 2014. I have uploaded the video of my medical file being delivered to a bench to youtube. http://t.co/lEyFQ9zJyr . Why would you not require my signature for this delivery?

My Medial file continues to be altered by pay-for-hire medical professionals writing what ever the hell they want, its turned into a fiction novel.  It does not surprise me as they have already allowed access to my medical file anonymously at the Securedox on line database where they keep our personal medical files. I can only hope that at the least they have tightened up the security on the web site. http://survivingacollision.blogspot.ca/2013/12/hcai-security-breach.html

Its not just Anonymous access to my medical records and sensitive files are being downloaded, wordhirlings also have sent my medical file to unsecured mail servers and carry these files around with them on laptop computers! What morons do they have running the store with our personal information?

I am considering sending this letter to Brian Beamish Acting Privacy Commissioner of Ontario when I am able. Hopefully when he reads it he will respond accordingly.


Social Security Tribunal Unreasonable Conduct

Social Security Tribunal -I thank you for finally contacting me on the phone. I do appreciate the ring.

Oh, you claim it was two rings. Lets go with that.

You gave me two rings. No message was left. No call back number.

By your email you think two rings should give a person enough time to answer the phone.

What about a person that was hit by tons of metal at over 120 km/hr head on?

Would that person be able to answer you on the phone with only 2 rings?

What if we blow up an airbag alongside their head and then send that person spinning and rolling into a tree, then we could leave them upside/down in a twisted wreck? Would that do it for ya?

The 120km is just an estimate on my part, the officer that came to my door told me that the 18 year old “was going over 102km/hr at the end of his skid.” when he hit me.

I estimate it must be at least 120km by the length of the skid:



What do you think? Oh, ya, I forgot according to Phillis Brodie RN Service Canada she does not look at photos of the crash that caused my injuries. A relevant piece of information. Out of the three vehicles that were in our crash in 2007 all of them were unrepairable and one person died from the crash. That’s me on the stretcher in the pictures above.

At his rate of speed the 18 year old slammed into the driver behind me as well, and then hit a pole, and cement barrier. In the picture below you can see where he died.




Application For Canadian Pention Plan Disability

My first application for disability benefits was in 2008.

It was denied because of the lack of medical documentation. It was denied without Service Canada doing a full investigation. In 2008 I was told by my lawyer not to file a disability claim, I will not receive it because my case “would have to be resolved first”. My case took 5 years to resolve.
FSCO Backlog - Forced Settlement

Our insurer forced settlement by cutting of my IRBs just prior to mediation. We were told it could take more years to get a hearing because of the FSCO backlog GD5-13. I was a victim of a crime, no justice was served. http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/en/drs/Pages/mediation-statistics-timelines.aspx .

This falls far below a standard of reasonableness that used to be expected in our justice system?


Social Security Tribunal Backlog Caused by Service Canada

Now I am at the Social Security Tribunal backlog with 11000 others being told that even if my appeal is successful they will not go back to my first application in 2008.
http://globalnews.ca/news/1703378/disability-benefits-wait-stretches-years-due-to-tribunal-backlog/

By not going back to the time of my disability disadvantages the freeze on my financial earning as of the date of my disability. This prevents CPP from establishing a record of zero of nil earnings to average into your future retirement or disability income calculation for the period you are disabled from working and not contributing to the CPP fund. Without this earning freeze future entitlement to CPP benefits, including retirement benefits are adversely affected.


From Letter to the Editor Craig Schindler, Cardston

60 % of Applications for a disability pension have been refused by two medical adjudicators at ESDC. These Medial Adjudicators are failing to do there jobs.

"Meanwhile, sick, suffering and dying Canadians are dealt a sentence of deep poverty because the program into which they have paid during their entire lives is ignoring them."
Craig Schindler
Cardston

http://www.dcac.ca/blog/post/Letter-to-the-Editor.aspx

Of course the backlogs could have been avoided
"delay was by design so that the government could balance the budget"
 http://www.dcac.ca/blog/post/Of-course-the-backlogs-could-have-been-avoided.aspx

Its time to clean house and get rid of these Service Canada employees that are causing backlogs and clean up the mess of 11,000 of us awaiting appeals without just disposing of the appeals and making them disappear magically.


Medial Diagnosis / Stigma and Bias

In the 1980s I was diagnosed with tendonitis in both wrists and forearms from 13 years of manual factory line work (pallet loader) I know how to work hard for a living. In 1999 I was diagnosed with “Early Degenerative disc decease” GD10-266. Even with both of these deceases I managed to work until the crash in 2007. My medical records verify that even after the fatal crash I still tried to go back to work, on my own, but was unsuccessful because of my injuries. That should speak volumes as to my character.

An examination performed on me June 1, 2012 by BP Health clinic found the following:
Mood disorder, Anxiety disorder, Headache syndromes, Sprain and Strain of the jaw, Sleep disorders, Low back pain, Dislocation sprain and strain of the joints and ligaments of lumbar spine and pelvis, Pain in theracic spine, Muscle strain shoulder region, Other and unspecified injuries of shoulder and upper arm, Other symptoms and signs involving cognitive functions and awareness, Other and unspecified injuries of neck, Problems related to employment and unemployment, Cervical Disc Disorder with radiculapothy, Sprain and strain of ribs and sternum, Sprain and strain of lateral collaterol ligament of knee, Sprain and strain of (interphalangeal) joint of toe, Mild cognitive disorder GD17-190

An MRI on Sept 11, 2008 of my shoulder  found “a focal linear hyperintense T2 signal abnormality in the anterior labrum “, “subltle edema in the adjacent paralabral recess.”, “acromioclavicular arthritis”, “degenerative cycts in the humeral head.”

An MRI of my cervical spine on September 28, 2008 revealed the following:

C3-4
 “Mild prominence of the uncovertobral joints resulting in mild bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing.”

C4-5
 “Mild circumferential disc ostoophyte complex with a flat small broadbased posterior disc bulge” ,”mild spinal canal stenosis in the minimal AP diameter of 9mm.”,

C5-6
“Mild to moderate circumferontial disc osteophyte complex effecting the anterior CSF collar with mild to moderate spinal canal stenosis with a minimum AP diameter of 8.7 mm. Added bilateral uncovertebral joint hypertorophy results in moderate bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing.”

C6-7
Mild circumferential disc osteophyte complex with bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing, moderate to severe on the right and moderate on the left”

The MRI report summary commented the following:
“At C6-7 there is moderate to severe right near frontal narrowing and moderate left near frontal narrowing."

I have been diagnose with Lumbar strain, Lumbago, Coccydynia, Siatica, and Chest wall strain (See: claims history Medical brief Section 21 2010-12-08), and WAD II – III GD10-234

Report dated March 12, 2012 by Maria Ross Occupational Therapist / Director states that I am "completely disabled for any occupation to which he is suited by way of his education, training or experience.”

February 10, 2012 Kaplan report -Assessment diagnosis :
Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, cognitive difficulties, functioning limitations and chronic pain tested with the BD1  and BD1-11 instruments, scales and measurements.

Doctors and pay-for-hire nerologissts, therapists, etc all expect you to be in a chemical straight jacket. GD5-14. The following prescribed medications did not work:
-Apo-amitriptyline Amitriptyline Hcl
-Toradol Ketoraolac Tromenth
-Novo-Nortriptyline
-Tramacet
-Tramadol Hydrochloride/ Acetaminophen
-Doxepin

I began using M E D I C A L Marijuana at the suggestion of a Doctor.
Phillis Brodie RN from Service Canada has issues with my medication. Phillis Brodie says that she does not believe in my choose of medications.  That’s M E D I C A L Marijuana not Marijuana as she wrote in their submission to the Social Security Tribunal. I have the audio how bias when Phillis Brodie said to me on the phone “I don’t believe in it”. In our conversation it was quite clear her negative position about my legal medication. The bias is clear as it is written Marijuana not M E D I C A L Marijuana in their Service Canada submission. The inference is damaging given the stigma and damage to ones credit that is practiced when someone mentions Marijuana with the M e d i c a l part left out.

You must remember before the crash that has imprisoned me in your world of deceit I was a third generation professional truck driver with a perfect driving record. I was randomly drug tested as part of the Ministry of Transportation rules regularly as seen in my medical file, and at random. I always passed all of these tests. So when I tell you that I take M E D I C A L Marijuana now its because :

1- its a legal prescribed medication
2-it helps my symptoms
3-its better than alcohol and better than the poison pills from the drug cartel that the doctors make a living pushing.

My Sciatica comes and goes. The Severe pain goes from my lower back into my Right Leg into my Right Big Toe. I regularly am unable to put on my shoe because of the toe pain. It makes it difficult to walk. I have pain when I twist, pain in my back- upper and lower, chest discomfort, fatigue, pain if I sit too long, pain if I stand too long, burning pain in both shoulders, numbness in my left arm, pain when reaching, and grinding of my left shoulder.

I have been diagnosed with Myofascial pain syndrome. It is caused by injury or damage to the fascia. The syndrome has caused chronic pain in muscles throughout my body. Inflammatory conditions were caused by the spine compressing and decompressing in the crash. Getting hit head on like I did from a vehicle doing over 120 km/hr. will compress and decompress the spine.

Fascia is the biological fabric that holds us together. You are about 70 trillion cells all humming in relative harmony; fascia is the 3-D spider web of fibrous, gluey, and wet proteins that hold them all together in their proper placement. How fascia works as a whole – our biomechanical regulatory system – is highly complex and under-studied. Understanding fascia is essential to the dance between stability and movement – crucial in high performance, central in recovery from injury and disability, and ever-present in our daily life from our embryological beginnings to the last breath we take.
When pain is caused by myofascial tightness within the fascial system (the web of connective tissue that spreads throughout the body and surrounds every muscle, bone, nerve blood vessel, and organ to the cellular level) the diagnosis is more difficult, as fascia restrictions do not show up on MRI scans or X-rays. Source excerpts:  http://www.anatomytrains.com/fascia/

I grind my teeth all night long (more and more during the day now) thinking about Service Canada and the Social Security Tribunal and the 11000 people that are being screwed out of our entitlements. I have jaw pain.

Air bag Detonation Damage

You can Google “air bag going off” to see what  caused the Tinnitus I suffer from. The airbag going off in the side of my head at a force 2/3 more powerful than that of today cars (1997 Ford Crown Victoria) caused the Tinnitus. The constant hi pitch ringing in my ear is very disturbing. I sometime yell at people unknowingly. There is no cure. This information is always left out of all the pay-for-hire doctor reports.

It should be noted that my head was sideways in the steering wheel at the time of the crash and air bag detonation. I  tried to protect my face from the head on crash by placing my head in the steering wheel. This information is always left out of all the pay-for-hire doctor reports.

I have had stitches in my head a few times as my medical history includes numerous concussions. I did have a lot of bumps on my head after the crash. My headaches last from 1hr to 3 days. Headaches make things difficult to say the least.

It is painful to look down, it is painful to look up, I try not to turn my head because of the pain in my neck-spine. I have memory problems and must write everything down. I have pain brushing my teeth.


Service Canada Intent to Deceive - Bad Faith Administering Claim

The Initial Adjudication Summary by Phillis Bodie RN  Service Canada conveniently leaves out medical evidence. Nowhere in her Decision does she include all of my symptoms and diagnostics. An obvious conclusion of her intent to deceive is when she leaves out in her reporting of my MRIs. For example:  “At C6-7 there is moderate to severe right near frontal narrowing and moderate left near frontal narrowing”. For her to leave out this part of my MRI evidence shows intent to deceive GD17-142.

Further more, the Service Canada submission to the Social Security Tribunal states: I did not go to see my doctor until 10 days after the crash. This statement conveniently leaves out that my doctor was on holidays at the time and I was unable to get an earlier appointment.  For her to leave out this information clearly shows her intent to deceive. I would also point out that a 10 day appointment is quick, sometimes you have to wait a month, why even write this and include it in her report unless she was trying to deceive another. Why not include much more important medical information like my MRI results and a full account of the crash?

Service Canada Caught in Lie

Service Canada has denied my claim for Disability Benefits on the basis that “my insurer bought me a tractor and a backhoe”.

All the third party manipulation and alteration of the expert reports in my medical file has finally back fired on the pay-for-hire wordhirlings. The following will prove that my insurer did not buy “me a tractor and a backhoe”:

My occupational therapist recommended on May 4, 2012 a small Tractor to minimize the effect of my “functional losses” and maintain my property. "

Despite what Service Canada writes about the tractor it was denied by my insurer, even before they sent out their favourite pay-for-hire-medical-pupet to our house. GD1-10

The file management log of Susan Nowak from Vista Disability in 10/27/2011 states:
“talked to adjuster and he would like the OT  to go to the home and address the OCF-18 would be denied next week so Ax in week of Nov 14 the. Talked to OT Manager and she suggested Jean Turgeon of Jonathan Kaine.” GD1-10

Then the adjuster with the help of the wordhirelings at Vista Disability rewrote the doctors report:
November 28, 2011 copy of email from Stephanie Doyon to  Samantha Anstey – Vista Disability:
“Green highlights are revisions for Jonathan. Due to adjuster ASAP.” GD1-11

December 2, 2011 copy of email from Samantha Anstey Manager of Occupational Therapy Services – Vista Disability to  Stephanie Doyon – Vista Disability:
“Hi Steph, Jonathan has reviewed and approved the revisions” The final is saved to the claimants folder. Thank you. “GD1-11

Even using their favourite pay-for-hire-medical-pupet and editing his report, it still said in his report: this assessor he can safely conclude that I do “not have adequate physical/functional abilities to perform the home maintenance responsibilities described for his 1.5 acre property.”

Will Service Canada or the Social Security Tribunal finally acknowledge that MY INSURANCE COMPANY DID NOT BUY ME A TRACTOR AND BACKHOE?


Messages for Decision Makers

As a victim of a crash I am expected to supply a diary. This is my diary.

Denying my Disability benefits by making shit up is fraudulent. Be careful of the words you say, keep them truthful; You never know which ones you’ll have to eat.

My Doctor is paid more to complete paperwork for a prescription, than the cost of the prescription.” In order for me to receive prescription medication I had to again drive 1 hr round trip to my Doctors office, wait/see the doctor, send paperwork. Then they just simply ignored it. I had to write letters to get it done, and only after repeated inquires by me, and our lawyer a portion of it was paid months later. Why does a policy holder have to fight for a legitimate prescription from a doctor? GD5 -10

I would like to know how it is allowed that insurance adjusters can tell a doctor how to diagnose a patient? It used to be about health and well being and recovery. Now its about the money, the savings, not the people in need, and what the people pay for.

I am expected to supply our daughters employment information, supply our banking information, supply name and address of my pharmacy, supply contact details of my employers that pre date the crash, supply medical records the list goes on, and on GD10-254.

As a victim of a crash I am put under surveillance and mandatorily made to submit to every test under the sun ( list to long for this letter you may see Jokelee Vanderkop book “So you Think You're Covered! The Insurance Industry Rip-Off” at http://www.deniedbenefitclaims.ca/ ) for a list and read about her 12 year battle. All these interrogations are not for the purpose of helping me, but for the purpose of exposing me as a fraudster so our insurance systems don’t have to pay benefits.

Accident or illness benefits denied? Radio show addresses the issues
http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/2015/01/21/so-you-think-youre-covered/#vf-3080400000827

As you know A l l of these tests that were performed on me “showed no deceptions” on my part. Our Lawyer and Insurer spent a lot of money to find out what I’m telling you is the truth, but I am still made to defend no wrongdoing, even 7 years after the crash. At what point should this process be considered harassment? Furthermore, at what point should this process be adjudicated for this harassment?

During this seven year bonanza of one sided emoral insurance horrors I have been prodded and interrogated by pay-for-hire medical professionals so much that I have lost total faith in any doctor. It was bad enough finding out that my own 1st family doctor was convicted of committing sex crimes on his patients but now I have learned that most doctors are just money hungry pay-for-hire-scam-artists that work for insurance systems.

Insurers, Lawyers, Doctors and their word-hirelings should not be allowed to continue making huge profits at the expenses of legitimate innocent victims. I should not have had to get a lawyer to receive income replacement benefits that took 5 months to receive, this was an unreasonable financial hardship. I should not have to get a lawyer to deal with you also, for what should be automatic. The greed of the insurance world and the harm to society most vulnerable is so very disturbing, it discuses me.

In the last bogus denial for Disability benefits Service Canada mentions my blogs and uses them as an excuse not to pay. Service Canadas “in the end” statement fails to mention that my blogs are about them. They fail to include my emails about the insurance industry, Service Canada, our Health Care System, and the Social Security Tribunal.

"State Farm accepted the opinions of its medical advisors to support its routine denials of benefits"
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/state-farm-accepted-opinions-of-its.html

Medical files ‘routinely altered’ to suit insurers, claims FAIR
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/medical-files-routinely-altered-to-suit.html

To Ontario’s MPPs – does Ontario no longer want an honest justice system?
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/to-ontarios-mpps-does-ontario-no-longer.html

Was government really blindsided by disability benefits backlog?
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/was-government-really-blindsided-by.html

Canada Pension Plan portfolio assets up, president boasts of 'resilient portfolio'
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/canada-pension-plan-portfolio-assets-up.html

Tory-dominated committee won't look into tribunal's patronage appointments
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/tory-dominated-committee-wont-look-into.html

Fewer in-person hearings being heard by social security tribunal
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/fewer-in-person-hearings-being-heard-by.html

Social security officials idle in tribunal's early months as backlog grew
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/social-security-officials-idle-in.html

Kenney: Social security backlog ‘unacceptable’
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/kenneysocial-security-backlog.html

Fraud against insurance claimants - business-as-usual
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/fraud-against-insurance-claimants.html

Baloney Meter: social security tribunal
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/baloney-meter-social-security-tribunal.html


Please acknowledge the following

1-I did not write the posting: Ottawas unjust approach to disability insurance by Jackie Esmonde , Marie Chen published September 12, 2014. I copy/paste it on my blog. GD15-3
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.com/2014/10/ottawas-unjust-approach-to-disability.html

2-I do not make software or build computers as Service Canada has said in there submission to the Social Security Tribunal. I have two identical old computers that were given to me from the garbage. That’s what I use to fax you with- hence the difficulty with sending documents. I have been able to swap out parts to see what works. Not exactly a computer technician able to “build computers”.

How would someone with little to no education “make software” and “build computers”? My education included 12 years of grade schools. On average that’s 1 school per year. We moved almost every year. Sometimes I would go to 2 schools in one year. In the 1960s there was no standard curriculum. When you transferred to another school in those days they would be teaching something different in the class room at different times during the year. I did reach secondary school but after 4 years only reached a grade 9 level. Get real, I do not make software and build computers I wish that I could.

Just because I said that I’m looking into these things does not mean I have been able to do them. I am looking into doing your job too, doesn't  mean anything.

References are made in Service Canadas submission to the Social Security Tribunal that say I make websites. Yes I have Blogs. Anyone with a Google account does. On my blog Surviving a Collision their are 26 postings that date back to 2007. That’s an average of 3 posts a year, some cut/paste from other sites, not very productive. Its not been an easy task giving up a shifter for a pen.

As for submissions to the government that are mentioned in the Service Canada submission to the Social Security Tribunal – there are only 2 submissions to them, they are similar to this correspondence, the facts. I am considering being much louder than this when I am able.

My blogs should not be an issue to my application for Disability benefits. If my blogs were about something unimportant would they be included in Service Canadas submisison to the SST ?
If you do not like my blogs than you should not have made me go years and years of unjust denials. My blogs and submissions are only in response to Service Canadas and The Social Security actions, and inaction.

Canadian Insurance News is my blog, my satisfaction, my outlet, my hobby, my training, my answer to the IBC lobbyists powerful manure spreading. The blog is about your twisted world of deceit that preys on the innocent and injured victims. A subject I have information on. The blog postings are from emails given to me from the Fair Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform. When able I cut/paste, only a few postings are my own. I have become a member and Advocate for Victims.  http://fairassociation.ca .

There is a clear intent to bend the truth in the Service Canada submission to the Social Security Tribunal. Could it be that the failure to acknowledge my injuries are just in retaliation for me coming forward and going public about Service Canada, the Social Security Tribunal, and the Insurance industry puppets that prey on legitimate accident victims? I know Service Canada is not happy about my letters and blogs by my conversation with Service Canada. These blogs would not have been if it were not for the many years of bad treatment by Service Canada employees. Anyone with a Google account already has a blog. You just have to activate it. Blogging is not employment that I am being paid to do. There has never been any offers of employment for my blogging. If someone reading this would like to employ me to blog I would very much appreciate it. Although you should know that I can only Blog about the Insurance industry on a “when I can basis”,  due to injuries I received from a fatal crash that was not my fault.

Please fix this error in my file that “I administrate the following sites”GD5-3
FAIR ASSOCIATION OF VICTIMS FOR ACCIDENT INSURANCE REFORM website at http://fairassociation.ca I do not administrate the Fair website. Fair is quoting my blog. GD7-4

I have fully cooperated in all Undertakings GD8-39. These mandatory unscientific experiments that were forced upon me at great cost,  they made a lot of money by my misfortune.  But for me it took 4 years to get a simple pickup stick. A cane took 1652 days. There was a “5 month delay paying Income Replacement Benefits GD5-9. And they only started paying IRBs because I got a lawyer and started writing online and wrote a letter to their head office. The Doctors get paid first, screw the patient, the customer, the injured.

Certain details are left out of Service Canadas submission. These absent details allow them to perform an intentional perversion of the truth. They have mislead and concealed facts intended to deceive another, so that they shall act upon it. Perversion of the truth. That’s what they do.

Again, I kindly request a pre hearing. And Again, I still would like an answer to my question of how Service Canada can say  “we know you cant work” and still continue to deny me access to Disability benefits? Its not reasonable.

My employers and I have paid into The Canadian Pension Plan since 1979. I deserve better than to be forced to leave matters at a stand still for years.  The Social Security Tribunal is treating me the same way my Insurer did. Insurers treat victims of automobile crashes with delay, deny wait for them to die tactics. Everyone in your world of deceit knows it.

Fair Response to KPMG
http://cinsurancenews.blogspot.ca/2015/01/fair-response-to-kpmg.html

http://www.fairassociation.ca/

Ask yourself what are the odds that someone could survive that crash? Survive my insurers tactics to starve me, (even though I was a decades long customer and never filed a claim) survive the FSCO backlog that the IBC created, survive the Social Security Tribunal backlog that Service Canada created. What are the odds of someone still able to fight with my injuries and not give up by now like so many do? Your waiting for them to die tactic will not work on me. Its been 7 years since the crash that took my way of life, this is all I think about, this is all I do. I rarely leave the house. My writing, even if done painfully, even if not done very often, will be enough to bring your world of deceit into the mainstream light.

https://twitter.com/Cinsurancenews

Looking forward to hearing from the Social Security Tribunal in this regard. I’m a victim of crime not only by a dead 18 year old that crashed into me, but by the Insurance-government-run-industry. 7 years is too long being treated as a criminal for no crime. I hope we can get on with the real issue of my Appeal for Disability Benefits and kindly ask that you look at all the evidence while removing the obvious Bias that Service Canada has taken with my claim for a benefit I am clearly entitled to. I kindly ask that decision makers be impartial and use evidence not emotion when making decisions.
Don't let my blogging about your employment sector cloud your judgment. In the end you should do the right thing without further delay. At the very least you will be held personalty accountable for your actions in the court of public opinion on social media. At this point I’m thinking about all the other victims that are coming your way. Let me guide them to your door.

Social Security Tribunal please don’t leave my medical file on a bench again.


Sincerely,
Mr. xxxxx



P.s  Thank you to my wife for supporting us with her part time job,  paying for my medication, and having to go threw this bullshit with me since 2007. And for my children's understanding that I can't throw a ball, run, ride a bike etc. Etc.

Insurance claim denied? Look no further? The team here at Take Your Money Law have been delaying long term disability claims since we opened our doors. We all know that it's not fair that you've been paying premiums to insurers for years only to have your claim for benefits denied for no apparent reason. If it's justice you're seeking, along with compensation for your benefits and damages for your anguish based on the denial, we're the law firm for you. Come let us screw you over.

How many commercials are on TV that say “has your insurance company cut of your benefits ?”, call bla bla bla lawyers?



Source: http://survivingacollision.blogspot.ca/2015/01/delay-deny-wait-for-them-to-die-at-sst.html

Transparency about medical errors a ‘magic bullet’ that could help make heath care safer: report

Tom Blackwell | January 22, 2015 | Last Updated: Jan 24 3:03 PM ET
More from Albert Quon

Improving transparency around medical error is a potential “magic bullet” that could finally start to make health care less hazardous after years of lacklustre efforts, concludes a new report from a major American patient-safety organization.
Increasing openness would bring “powerful effects” and cost relatively little to implement, the National Patient Safety Foundation report argues.

Among the institute’s 39 recommendations is for health care institutions to create a culture where transparency is rewarded and failing to speak up brings “consequences”; informing all patients about their clinician’s experience, outcomes and disciplinary history; and requiring that hospitals and other facilities publicly report on their performance.

“If transparency were a drug, it would likely be a blockbuster, given the evidence of its effectiveness and its enthusiastic endorsements from key stakeholders,” said the organization. “How can patients fully trust the clinicians and organizations from which they receive care if these clinicians and organizations are not fully transparent?”

The report from the foundation’s Lucian Leape Institute was released this week, as a National Post series revealed that most of the thousands of cases of serious medical error estimated to occur in Canadian hospitals every year go unreported even within the facilities. And less information about those mishaps is divulged publicly.

Four provinces release no data at all, most of the rest provide only limited statistics. Manitoba alone releases any detail — in the form of terse, one-line descriptions — on specific incidents.

The foundation notes that, if anything, the rate of medical error has grown worse since the U.S. Institute of Medicine first published a study 15 years ago estimating the extent of the problem.

It was followed in Canada in 2004 with a study that estimated about 70,000 preventable, serious adverse events occur in acute-care hospitals annually, with 9,000 to 23,000 patients dying because of avoidable errors.

Efforts to fix the problem, including education programs, computerization, changes to organizational culture and root-cause analysis, have had limited impact, says the American report, called Shining a Light.

But exposing the system to further scrutiny – “the free, uninhibited flow of information that is open to the scrutiny of others” — could make a real difference, it argues.

Related

• Inside Canada’s secret world of medical error: ‘There is a lot of lying, there’s a lot of cover-up’
• Seven years after allowing doctors to apologize without being sued, Manitoba decides it needs to teach them how
• Who’s at fault when plastic surgery goes wrong?

“We believe the missing ingredient, the essential element needed to enable the operational and culture changes to occur, is transparency,” said the institute. “Patients have a right to full information about every aspect of their care. Without it, optimal care is an elusive dream.”

Research suggests that releasing information about the outcomes of health care leads to better practices, the report said, and is more effective than, say, offering incentive payments for good performance, an increasingly popular concept in Canada.

The report warned, however, there are many barriers to increased openness, such as fear of harm to reputation, livelihood or pride; and the desire of some players in the system to maintain the status quo and “resist the sharing of information.”

But deliberate withholding of information puts patients at risk and represents a “moral failure,” the report said.
National Post
• Email: tblackwell@nationalpost.com | Twitter: tomblackwellNP

Source: http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/01/22/transparency-about-medical-errors-a-magic-bullet-that-could-help-make-heath-care-safer-report/
 

Hundreds of hospital privacy violations go unreported

Privacy Commissioner Brian Beamish calls for changes in law to require hospitals to reveal breaches to his office.

Vince Talotta / Toronto Star Order this photo

 

Brian Beamish, Ontario's acting privacy commissioner, is calling for changes in legislation to make it harder for hospitals to handle privacy breaches internally without reporting them to the privacy office. 

By: Olivia Carville Staff Reporter, Published on Tue Jan 13 2015

 

Five staff members snooped into the medical records of 22 patients at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health last year.

A clinician from St. Michael’s Hospital posted an inappropriate comment on Facebook about a patient’s behaviour during a healthcare procedure.

While standing in line for pizza, a Toronto East General Hospital doctor chatted on his cellphone about the private details of a patient, unaware the patient’s relative was in the same line.

These are just three examples among what may be thousands of serious health-related privacy violations that go unreported each year to the provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Nearly all of the 218 privacy breaches uncovered in documents obtained by the Star — which occurred at just eight of Toronto’s biggest health institutions — were not reported because of a legislative loophole that allows hospitals to handle such violations internally.

When the Star provided some examples of unreported cases to acting privacy commissioner Brian Beamish, he called for a legislative change to force hospitals to report serious breaches of personal health information.

“I definitely think it’s worth looking at. People are very protective of their health information, and when this type of thing happens it’s a very personal intrusion — people feel violated,” Beamish said.

Michael Crystal, a lawyer currently representing thousands of patients in five major privacy class actions against Ontario hospitals, backed the commissioner’s call for legislative change.

“This is a very, very significant problem that is common in many Ontario hospitals,” he said.

Privacy breaches can range from loose lips in the coffee line to more odious examples, where hospital employees maliciously access sensitive medical information relating to abortions, suicide attempts or queries into sexual re-assignment surgery, Crystal said.

Some of Crystal’s clients have been “devastated” to learn that their records were inappropriately accessed, he said.

One patient was in hiding from her abusive husband and believed he had bribed a hospital employee to access her personal information and learn which shelter she was staying in. Some of Crystal’s clients have even been reluctant to return to the hospital for much-needed care after being told that staff members had looked at their records without authorization.

Crystal said it should be “mandatory for hospitals to report all privacy leaks,” especially as the aging population grows more dependent upon healthcare providers.

Under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) hospitals may handle privacy violations internally, including disciplining and sometimes sacking staff members, without alerting the commission.

The three serious privacy breaches listed above all resulted in disciplinary action. Four of the snooping staff members from CAMH were suspended without pay, the documents show. A fifth received a disciplinary letter.

If hospitals were obligated under law to report privacy violations, the commission would be able to identify trends, investigate specific areas of concern and help hospitals prevent future incidents, Beamish said.

There are 155 hospitals in Ontario, and every year the commission receives roughly 400 notifications of health-related privacy breaches.

The Star’s request under the Freedom of Information Act unveiled 218 violations in just eight Toronto institutions, so “the math tells you [the number of unreported violations] is going to be in the thousands,” Beamish said.

Last year, the Star unveiled two major hospital privacy breach cases involving thousands of patients. In one case, hospitals inappropriately provided patient information to baby photographers. In another, hospitals were handing out patient contact information to RESP marketers. The commission was notified of both of these privacy breaches, probably because they affected thousands of patients and because the hospitals were seeking guidance as to how to respond, Beamish said.

A St. Michael’s Hospital spokesperson said in the Facebook incident, the commission wasn’t notified because “we consult with the privacy commissioner’s office as guidance is required … or to ensure we are in continuing compliance with the law.” The hospital didn’t feel it needed such advice in this case.

In the documents obtained by the Star, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre reported 27 privacy breaches where patient information was either stolen, lost, provided to the wrong people or disclosed without consent — and it notified the commission of none.

In one case, an employee disclosed a patient’s prognosis to the person’s estranged children, without consent, and in another the parents of an infant arrived at the neonatal intensive care unit carrying a different baby’s medical report.

Toronto East General Hospital reported 16 privacy violations whereby personal health information was inappropriately accessed or shared without consent. It notified the commission on only two occasions.

The hospital’s unreported incidents included the clinician who discussed a patient’s treatment options while waiting for pizza, an employee who asked a colleague to access the records of a friend, and a staff member who called the wrong family to tell them to come to the hospital to say goodbye to a “declining patient.”

A Star review found the majority of the 218 hospital privacy breaches were the result of genuine human error, but one in five cases were intentional and resulted in serious disciplinary action, the documents show.

Beamish said such violations, where clinicians “knew they shouldn’t be doing what they were doing and they still went ahead and did it anyway,” were the worst.

He was aware of one “love triangle” case where a nurse accessed the medical records of her ex-boyfriend’s new partner, and others where health professionals accessed colleagues’ and neighbours’ records out of curiosity.

Two similar, high-profile examples are that of former mayor Rob Ford, whose medical records were improperly read by hospital staff after his shocking cancer diagnosis, and the dozen staff members at Brampton Civic Hospital who were caught prying into the medical file of a 20-year-old man who committed suicide under hospital care.

Beamish fears that if such breaches aren’t contained, the public might lose confidence in the health sector’s ability to protect confidential information in the future.

This could lead to patients withholding information from doctors and hinder public acceptance of a shift toward electronic health records.

Online health records could be very beneficial to patients, but “people need to have confidence in the system,” he said.

Medical records are “incredibly personal” and hospitals should give as much prominence to protecting privacy as they do to hygiene campaigns, Beamish said.

“You can see a lot of signs and posters about making sure you wash your hands in hospitals, but they should take that same approach for privacy,” he said.

The University Health Network (UHN), which is responsible for four major hospitals in Toronto, reported 132 privacy incidents in 2014.

These included giving patients wristbands with the wrong identification, a staff member leaving a “detailed” message for a patient on the wrong voicemail, and the posting of two images to UHN’s public Facebook album containing patient names and medical record numbers.

Other examples:

UHN called a funeral home to ask them to search the morgue for a deceased patient’s misplaced medical chart

A clinical trial investigator unintentionally hit “reply all” on a confidential email, sending it to non-hospital staff

A staff member disclosed the date and time of a hospital appointment to the patient’s employer.

Health-related privacy violations are governed under PHIPA, legislation that allows for fining individuals up to $50,000 and institutions up to $250,000 if found guilty.

Only one prosecution has been logged so far under the act, which was introduced in 2004, and last year Beamish told the Star he wanted serious breaches to result in more prosecutions to deter nosy health professionals.

Since then, the commission has met with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to discuss the issue and work out who is responsible for “getting the prosecutions going,” Beamish said.

He hopes to have a prosecution plan in place within the next few months.

Minister of Health and Long Term Care Dr. Eric Hoskins said last year’s election stalled the government’s attempt to pass the Electronic Personal Health Information Act, legislation that would further safeguard patient information.

“We promised during that election to reintroduce the bill, and we’ll be doing just that,” he told the Star via email.

The new legislation would provide considerable opportunities to strengthen privacy protection over health records.

“Even one privacy breach is too many, and we will continue to work across the health sector to ensure that the personal health information of Ontarians is protected,” Hoskins said.

Olivia Carville can be reached at ocarville@thestar.ca 


Source: http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2015/01/13/hundreds_of_hospital_privacy_violations_go_unreported.html#