July 13, 2018
Supreme Court of Canada rules against tobacco firm in B.C. health-data privacy case
In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the argument of Philip Morris International that the BC government had to hand over its entire health databases with every health record of every insured person in the province.
British Columbia does not have to give a tobacco company access to detailed provincial health databases to help it mount a defence in a multibillion-dollar damages trial, the Supreme Court of Canada says in a ruling that will have a countrywide ripple effect.
In a unanimous decision Friday, the high court said the province cannot legally allow Philip Morris International to see raw data from the information banks. The ruling is the latest development in a 17-year-old effort by B.C. to recoup smoking-related health-care expenditures from tobacco companies. Read more...
To read the Supreme Court Judgment, click here.