Ontario doctor suspended after accessing medical records of 20 patients he wasn’t authorized to see: tribunal – CTV
March 1, 2024
An Ontario doctor had his licence temporarily suspended by a disciplinary tribunal after it found he had wrongly accessed patient records, including family members and colleagues, hundreds of times over the span of years.
Dr. Ashley John Mercado, a diagnostic radiologist who practised at various hospitals in Southwestern Ontario, admitted to professional misconduct and was reprimanded with a four-month suspension and $6,000 payment to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
A patient prompted an internal investigation into this “breach of privacy,” flagging concerns about the doctor’s unauthorized access to their medical history, in July 2021. According to an agreed statement of facts, Dr. Mercado used the electronic medical record system to access the information of 20 patients – all people he personally knew – between 2015 and 2021.
He conducted these searches hundreds of times, using his personal computer and hospital devices, and accessed personal health information, including patient visit history and the reasons for their visits, the documents state.
