Vancouver Division of Family Practice Data Breach (2016)

Thieves who burgled a West Broadway office last month stole the personal medical files of 4,000 Vancouver patients, likely by far the largest privacy breach of medical records in B.C. in 10 years or longer. And the ease with which the thieves were able to walk off with the sensitive files points up how vulnerable British Columbians' private medical histories have become with the increasing digitization of records. The NDP is calling for mandatory reporting for privacy breaches, recommended last year by B.C.'s privacy commissioner. Opposition health critic Judy Darcy said B.C. is one of only three provinces that don't require mandatory reporting, and she accused the government of dragging its feet. "We're already seeing these kinds of privacy breaches and we have a lot of work to do" before all records are electronic, she said. B.C. Health communications manager Laura Heinze said in an email the government has accepted the commissioner's recommendation and "intends to bring forward legislation at the next available opportunity," but she wouldn't be more specific. Heinze said the privacy commission is working with doctors to update procedures under the Personal Information Protection Act. The theft of the 4,000 medical histories, which included names, addresses and B.C. Care Card numbers, occurred before midnight on Feb. 3 after the ransacking of the 11th-floor offices of the Vancouver Division of Family Practice (DoFP), a non-profit group funded by the Doctors of B.C. (formerly the BCMA) and B.C. Health. "They (thieves) were opening drawers, cupboards and cabinets and they made off with laptops and hard drives," said Vancouver police spokesman Const. Brian Montague. "They were in there for a long time." Police have poor quality video of two men leaving the building carrying bags, but investigators found no forensic evidence. There was no alarm or security video in the office, and police have no suspects.