Province argues tobacco firms should be compelled to help pay the cost of treating smoking-related diseases
British Columbia does not have to hand over the health care records of millions of patients to tobacco company Philip Morris International, says Canada's top court.
Friday morning's unanimous Supreme Court decision clears a hurdle in the province's quest to sue cigarette companies for billions in health care costs.
Writing for the court, Justice Russell Brown found the health care databases Philip Morris wanted contained information about individuals whose privacy the province is obligated to protect.
The ruling is the latest chapter in B.C.'s legal fight to force cigarette makers like Philip Morris International to compensate the province for the cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses — a battle that started in the late 1990s.
Philip Morris International argued it needs access to individuals' health data to defend itself in court.
The province's lawyers argued that releasing individuals' health information — even anonymously — could violate privacy laws.
B.C. pointed to a provision in its Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act that specifically covers privacy.
Last year, the B.C. Court of Appeal upheld a lower court's decision that agreed with the company, and ruled that to ensure a fair trial, the province needed to hand over the patient data.
The Supreme Court disagreed.
Documents can't be shared, ruling says
B.C. was the first province to start the litigation process, but every other province has since launched similar cost-recovery cases against the tobacco industry.
Collectively, they're seeking about $120 billion.
Brown wrote that the lower courts focused on the relevance of the databases rather than the content of the information. He said documents related to individual health care benefits cannot be shared, even if identifying information is removed.
British Columbia did offer Philip Morris access to individual-level Statistics Canada data, under strict controls, but Philip Morris refused.
Brown said Philip Morris could ask for a "statistically meaningful sample."