Indigenous leader in Nova Scotia accusing radiologists of conducting secret tests

The Mi'kmaq chief of a Nova Scotia First Nation has filed a lawsuit against two Halifax radiologists alleging they conducted medical tests on her and other members of the Pictou Landing First Nation without their consent.

The Mi'kmaq chief of a Nova Scotia First Nation has filed a lawsuit against two Halifax radiologists alleging they conducted medical tests on her and other members of the Pictou Landing First Nation without their consent.

In a statement of claim, Andrea Paul says she and other band members agreed in March 2017 to undergo Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax as part of a research project led by the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds.

The claim, filed in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in June 2020 and certified as a class action on Feb. 7, alleges the chief and 60 band members were subjected to additional "secret" scans of their livers without consent.

"Chief Andrea was unaware of the Indigenous study or that she was participating in it," the statement of claim says. "The MRI scans generated data that reveal intimate medical information about her body without her knowledge or consent. She had been singled out for one reason — she was Mi'kmaq."

The lawsuit names Dalhousie University radiologists Robert Miller and Sharon Clarke as defendants.

None of the allegations have been proven in court, and Lawyer Harry Thurlow, who represents the two radiologists, said Monday in an email his clients would not be commenting on the court action.

At the time of the MRI testing, both Miller and Clarke were also employed by the Nova Scotia Health Authority in the radiology department of the QEII Health Sciences Centre, the statement of claim says.