The slow drip of information about the B.C. Health Ministry scandal continues to torture British Columbians. Even as they learn more about the unauthorized release of research data, taxpayers are still groping for answers.
Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid held another news conference on Monday about the case that saw seven ministry employees suspended and later fired. This time, she spelled out more details, but once again, her pronouncements made the risk of public harm seem small and the punishment seem out of proportion to the facts.
MacDiarmid outlined three cases in which researchers were given data on USB sticks. One included data on personal health numbers, hospital admissions, discharges, medication history and medical services plan claims for 38,000 people. Another had personal health numbers, gender, age group, hospital stays and money spent on different types of health care for five million people. In the third, a researcher got information on 21,000 people relating to 262 chronic diseases or conditions.
MacDiarmid emphasized that the workers used the data for research, and no one tried to make money from it. In the first case, transferring the data violated an agreement with Statistics Canada. In the third, a proper request wasn’t filed. She said the chance of any patient’s private information being misused is small. The RCMP is not investigating, which suggests no evidence of crime.
Certainly, the government must have regulations to ensure researchers treat patient data with respect because it includes information that we all expect to be kept private. And the ministry must monitor anyone with access to that data to be sure they are abiding by the rules.
However, four months after the first announcement, each new revelation suggests those involved should have been reprimanded and possibly suspended for a period. But nothing we have seen so far merits firing even one person, never mind seven.
It could be that down the road, the minister will reveal the crucial piece of information that will make us say, “Aha.” But so far, all we can say is, “Huh?”
