Tobacco giant can’t view health info, court rules

VANCOUVER— In a decision that has “delighted” B.C.’s privacy commissioner and anti-smoking advocates, the Supreme Court of Canada delivered a blow Friday to tobacco giant Philip Morris International as part of a 17-year court battle with British Columbia.

The province does not have to give the tobacco company access to detailed provincial health databases to help it mount a defence in a multibillion-dollar damages trial, Canada’s top court has ruled. The decision will have a countrywide ripple effect, as all 10 provinces have filed legal suits seeking a total of more than $120 billion to recoup smoking-related health-care expenditures from tobacco companies.

The top court rooted its unanimous decision on an interpretation of B.C.’s Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, which states that health records may not be disclosed.

Vancouver privacy lawyer Daniel Reid said “substantially identical” legislation exists in eight other provinces. “It likely means that health information databases maintained by these provinces will similarly not have to be disclosed,” Reid said.

B.C.’s privacy commissioner called the decision “a victory for the privacy rights of British Columbians — and of all Canadians.” “Our office was alarmed by the attempt by tobacco companies to get the data of particular citizens,” commissioner Michael McEvoy said in an interview with the Star.

The office of the privacy commissioner became an intervener in the case, largely because it was concerned that sharing data collected by the province’s ministry of health could put “incredibly sensitive” information at risk.

“I don’t think we can ignore the fact that this ruling, which protects the privacy of citizens, comes at a time when there is far greater awareness of privacy rights,” McEvoy said. “That’s something governments are going to have to consider increasingly as they collect and use data to make decisions, McEvoy said.