'Oh, he's still alive': Sask. pharmacy student caught snooping on medical records of 114 people

A fourth-year pharmacy student doing an internship at a Regina drug store was caught snooping on the medical records of 114 people who were not in their care.

A fourth-year pharmacy student doing an internship at a Regina drug store was caught snooping on the medical records of 114 people who were not in their care.

The University of Saskatchewan (U of S) student, working at Hill Avenue Drugs Pharmacy, accessed the records of people via the Pharmaceutical Information Program (PIP) and the electronic Health Record Viewer (eHR), according to a recent report from the province’s privacy commissioner Ron Kruzeniski.

The student was dismissed by the pharmacy, and Kruzeniski says the U of S College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, eHealth Saskatchewan and the Ministry of Health did not properly handle the breaches in accordance with four best practice steps.

The student’s placement at the pharmacy started May 6, 2024 and lasted until he was escorted out of the building on June 25.

According to Kruzeniski, a pharmacist caught the student talking to himself and allegedly said, "oh, he’s still alive."

“The student was asked who he was reviewing and he quickly shut down a number of patient searches. Following an audit, it was determined the student was looking up patients that were not customers/patients of the pharmacy. The snooping started five days into the student’s placement,” the document reads.

According to the document, the student’s access to PIP and eHR were revoked on June 26 and 27 but it was not determined if paper copies of inappropriate information was made.