… the results can literally be deadly.
Remember, we in Canada think the government should be responsible for everything from trash pickup, to health care. And somewhere in the middle lies the postal service, Canada Post.
Cancer Care Ontario (CCO), the agency responsible for improving cancer services in the province, says colon cancer test results for nearly 6,500 patients may have gone missing in the mail.
Canada Post cannot confirm the delivery of 15 “screening activity reports” containing the personal health information of 6,490 Ontarians, the agency said Tuesday. The reports were part of “ColonCancerCheck,” a province-wide, population-based colorectal cancer screening program. They were mailed to physicians across the province in February and March using Canada Post’s Xpresspost courier service.
Canada Post was supposed to obtain signatures upon delivery, while any parcels for which a signature could not be obtained were supposed to have been sent back to CCO. The agency says Canada Post believes some reports were in fact delivered without the required signatures.
Ah, I sleep better at night knowing the government and all its agencies are looking out for my best interests.
The envelopes will show up – in five or ten years after being “mislaid” by Canada Post. But by then the intended recipients will mostly be dead.