WILL DOCTORS BECOME AGENTS FOR THE COPS?

To Tory MLA Thomas Lukaszuk, proposed changes that will give cops more
access to patient information is a logical way to fight crime.

Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman, on the other hand, fears that any such moves
will turn doctors and nurses into de facto police agents.

The law in question is the Health Information Act, which sets rules
regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information.

Proclaimed three years ago, the legislation just underwent a mandatory
review by all-party committee that decided to make it easier for the cops
to do their jobs.

Currently, the law permits health professionals to release medical details
without patient consent to police only under restricted circumstances, such
as when someone's life or health is in imminent danger.

The police have complained that such discretionary disclosures are too
limited and hamper their ability to investigate crimes.

The review panel agrees. "The committee decided the current provisions do
not allow the police adequate access to health information to allow them to
carry out their duty to enforce the law," the committee says in its report.

It recommends that the Health Information Act be amended to require
doctors, nurses and other health workers to release information, without
patient consent, on a wider scale.

Specifically, the report proposes that health professionals be compelled to
disclose patient details for the purposes of obtaining a warrant or
subpoena, and when police have "reasonable grounds" to suspect that a
patient has committed a crime.

The proposed amendments would also require health officials who suspect
someone seeking medical care has been involved in criminal activity to
inform the police.

It's been a "nightmare" for the cops trying to get an arrest warrant when
they don't know the name of a suspect who's in hospital, says Lukaszuk, who
was on the review committee.

The proposed amendments are a way of making the community safer without
spending more money, he argues. Otherwise, hospitals can be havens for
criminals, he says.

Right now, doctors and nurses don't even have to report gunshot wounds to
the police, he says.

If the legislature passes the proposed changes, health professionals would
be obligated to tell police about a ruptured drug-filled condom in a
patient's stomach or any other injury that points to criminality, he adds.

"I think we struck the right balance," says Lukaszuk.

Any potential harm stemming from the release of patient information is far
outweighed by the benefit to society of helping police investigations, he
explains.

And if criminals shy away from getting medical help? "That's the choice
they make," he says.

But Blakeman, who was also on the committee, is horrified at the scope of
the recommendation that mandates the disclosure of patient information to
the police.

"We have now created a situation where the police can stroll in and have
health-care workers act as their secretaries," she says.

Overall, the existing legislation is fine the way it is, she argues. "We
erred on the side of giving away people's personal information under casual
circumstances."

Instead, Blakeman supports another committee proposal that she believes
will help the police without letting the cops go on "shopping" expeditions.

That recommendation urges the government to consider stand-alone
legislation that would require health professionals to tell police about
gunshot wounds, stabbings and severe beatings.

Edmonton police spokesmen weren't available to comment on the proposals.

But Alberta Privacy Commissioner Frank Work has concerns about mandatory
disclosure of health information to the cops, says spokesman Tim Chander.