Canadian Government Tries To Keep Medical Decisions Under Wraps

Hardly surprising, but significant nevertheless. Canadian hospitals are fighting for the right to keep certain medical decisions under covers. Gee, one wonders what they are afraid of.

Liberals quietly push hospital secrecy bill

After its $1-billion e-health scandal, Ontario vowed to allow greater access to

hospital records to improve public transparency. But the ruling Liberals are now backing off that pledge before legislation that was to take effect in 2012.

Midway through the province’s recent 328-page budget, a single line pointed to a change that nurses and a patient advocate say would cripple any move toward greater accountability.

The change would allow hospitals to continue to hide records used to assess patient safety or services — from medical mistakes, to changes needed to improve patient care. more