Citation

Gregoire L. CMAJ 2005; 172(3): 320.

Affiliation

Edmonton, Canada

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Canadian Medical Association)

DOI

10.1503/cmaj.045298

PMID

15684109

PMCID

PMC545748

Abstract

Alberta politicians want to amend the Health Information Act to force doctors to tell police when they are treating a gunshot victim and to disclose that patient's health status. Currently, doctors are prohibited from providing that information unless the police have a court order, the victim is in grave condition, there is an immediate threat to public or individual safety, or the patient consents. Patient privacy concerns have been at the root of the prohibition until now. But that protection makes it difficult for investigators to do their jobs, says Tory MLA Thomas Lucaszuk. "Police services are experiencing difficulty obtaining information [about] individuals who go into emergency with wounds indicative of criminal activity, or [from] those they've lost custody of, say, after a car accident," says Lucaszuk, a member of the all-party committee reviewing the legislation. Critics of the proposed legislative changes say some victims may not seek treatment if police and physicians cooperate in this way. "That is not a concern I share," says Lucaszuk. "If they have something to hide and choose not to go, that's their choice. My job is to protect law-abiding Albertans." Although no Canadian jurisdiction currently requires physicians to report gunshot wounds to police, Ontario has introduced legislation that requires public hospitals and health care facilities to report patients with gunshot wounds to the police (CMAJ 2004;170:780). The Mandatory Gunshot Reporting Act, which is at the committee stage in the Ontario legislature, is expected to pass this spring, says Adrian Dafoe, a spokesman for Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter.^  Although individual doctors have expressed certain opinions, medical bodies overall are highly supportive," Dafoe says. In most provinces, physicians are justified in contacting police only when there is an imminent threat to the victim, to the public, or if the victim is near death.