Healthy romantic prospect? Pharmacist peeked at Tinder date's medical records

A Québec pharmacist has been suspended for two months after she admitted to peeking at the electronic medical records of potential romantic partners. Salamicha Poirier, who works at two pharmacies in Cowansville, Que., told the disciplinary board of the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec that between December 2018 and October 2019, she retrieved patient files from the province’s health records system for purposes unrelated to her professional practice. Poirier had already been suspended for two months in 2022 for viewing the health records of one of her ex-husbands. According to case documents, she committed this infraction roughly within the same time she was looking up the patient files of three men who were potentially of romantic interest to her. One of these men found out, through the province’s online health management platform, that Poirier had viewed his health information. He filed a complaint with the regulator, stating among other things that he had never lived in Cowansville and had never sought treatment or filled prescriptions at the pharmacies where Poirier worked. Read: ‘Morally obliged’: Pharmacy owner peeked at employee’s health records to help a concerned relative The man told the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec that he had met Poirier through the Tinder dating app and had met her twice in person in December 2018. He did not see her or hear from her again after their second meeting. During the investigation Poirier said that, after a “tumultuous” experience with an ex-spouse, she viewed the health files of several potential companions. She told the investigator that she was not aware it was illegal to consult health records without patients’ consent or valid professional reasons and that she thought only the disclosure of the information was illegal. When asked for a list of the men she had been meeting or dating so their health records could be checked for possible improper access, Poirier provided the names of five men. Of these five men, two had their health records viewed without consent by Poirier, in addition to the man who had filed the complaint. Further to the two-month suspension, Poirier has been ordered to pay all investigation and hearing costs and to publish a notice of the hearing outcome, at her own expense, in a newspaper distributed in the community where she practises. Read: 'Lack of judgement': Pharmacist mistakenly thought 'SS' meant super strength and assumed others would check for drug interactions

Healthy romantic prospect? Pharmacist peeked at Tinder date's medical records

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics