This decision concludes an IPC-initiated file arising from allegations made by two different information sources about unauthorized disclosures of personal health information by the respondents Dr. Rita Kilislian, the owner and operator of Kawartha Endodontics (the clinic), and/or Andrew Curnew, her former spouse. Some of the allegations concern the dissemination of a memo authored by Andrew Curnew in the context of a Health Services Appeal and Review Board proceeding in which he represented Dr. Kilislian. The respondents denied the allegations, including based on claims the information in the memo is not personal health information and is information available in the public domain.
The IPC conducted a self-initiated review of the matter under the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA). During the IPC review, the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board (HPARB) issued decisions on complaints made to Dr. Kilislian’s regulatory college about some of the same events at issue in the IPC review. The IPC considered the impact the HPARB decisions ought to have on its disposition of the allegations made to the IPC. The IPC also addressed in a private interim decision Andrew Curnew’s request that the IPC disclose to him the identities of the information sources to the IPC, and the information provided by them.
In this final decision, the adjudicator declines to issue orders in respect of three of the allegations made to the IPC, in view of other proceedings that appropriately addressed the same matters. With respect to the remaining allegation—concerning the posting of personal health information on social media—the adjudicator describes the steps taken during the review to seek the respondents’ cooperation in containing a potential contravention of PHIPA. While the adjudicator is unable in the circumstances to make finding on whether Andrew Curnew made the social media posts at issue, she orders Dr. Kilislian to take all steps that are reasonable in the circumstances to remedy the potential contravention of PHIPA. This includes retrieving from Andrew Curnew any personal health information still in his possession for which there is no authority under PHIPA for his ongoing use or disclosure of that information.