Medical records found in Regina recycling bin

Saskatchewan authorities are investigating afterseveral boxescontaining themedical filesof about 1,000 patients were discovered intact in a paper-recycling bin in Regina.

Gary Dickson, the province's information and privacy commissioner, told CBC News on Wednesday that he was surprised by what he found when he arrived at the site late in the day.

"To be honest, I'm astonished,"Dickson said. "It appears to be a large volume of health information in file folders."

He said the records appeared to be from a doctor's office, or several doctors' offices, and possibly a diagnostic laband maybe a pharmacy.

"What we know for sure is this is information that is not supposed to be found in a dumpster," he said. "This is totally inappropriate, to toss them in the dumpster where anyone could find them."

Dickson loaded an unspecified number of boxesof medical filesinto his car and said a member of his staff was checking medical offices in the area to determine the source.

"The immediate concern is making sure the stuff is safe," he said.

'I've got a colleague from my office who's still in the dumpster, trying to get to the bottom.' Gary Dickson, Saskatchewan privacy commissioner

Dickson pointed out that a health-careprovider isconsidered a trustee of the records, andis responsible for ensuringthe files arekept confidential or shredded if they are no longer needed.

"The important thing is that you don't leave people's sensitive, prejudicial, personal health information available for anybody to look at," he said.

The commissioner was alerted by Kevin Yates, an NDP member of the legislature who had received a tip from a citizen about the papers in the bin.

Dickson said he was especially concerned because he had recentlypublished a lengthyreport onthe management of old medical records and provided recommendations for health-care providers on how to safeguard patient files.

"It looks like more than1,000 individual patients," Dickson said. "I've got a colleague from my office who's still in the dumpster, trying to get to the bottom. We're still discovering more and more."