Dear Geraldine,
First, let us congratulate and encourage you in your efforts to collect your personal medical records!
You should know that Records For Living provides NO legal advice and you should consider the information in this reply purely a 'lay' opinion on the laws of Canada. There is however, some evidence that is available on the internet that indicates a Canadian patient's "
Common Law rights". You might find these links helpful:
In this report, the author(s) state:
In McInerney v. MacDonald, a case dealing with a patient's right of access to her health care record, the court held that the physician/patient relationship is fiduciary in nature and that "(c)ertain duties do arise from the special relationship of trust and confidence between doctor and patient" (McInerney v. MacDonald 1992, 423).
- Paul Harte is a lawyer whose firm hosts a webpage discussing Canadian law regarding patient access to medical records and charges for obtaining these records:
In the absence of legislation, patients are
entitled, upon request, to examine and copy all information in their medical records which the
treating physician
considered in administering advice or treatment, including records
prepared by other doctors that the physician may have received.
[...]
There are no specific
regulations dealing with the charges that a doctor or physician
may levy for copying the record. The College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Ontario permits a "reasonable fee" for copying records.
However, a
physician or hospital should not charge the patient
a fee which exceeds the cost of the materials used, the time
required to prepare the material, and the direct cost of providing
the material to the patient.
Records For Living does not collect or access a patient's medical records - for more details, please refer to our
privacy policy. Records For Living publishes the
HealthFrame family of products and services. Using HealthFrame, patients can store and access the medical records they collect from their physicians, specialists and hospitals.
Please let us know if we can be of additional help and good luck with your efforts,
Support Team