Ont. commissioner clarifies medical privacy rules in wake of student's death
Last Updated: Monday, April 28, 2008 | 6:11 PM ET
CBC News
The parents of a university student found dead last week after missing could legally have been informed by the university that their daughter was being treated for depression, says Ann Cavoukian, Ontario's privacy commissioner.
Cavoukian responded Monday to comments from Carleton University officials after the body of 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji was pulled from the Rideau River on April 20.
The Carleton student from Brampton, Ont., had been last seen in her dorm room on March 9, and at the time of her disappearance, her parents were unaware that she was being treated for depression.
Carleton University officials said privacy laws did not allow them to disclose that information to her family, but that isn't true, Cavoukian told CBC News.
"That is fiction," she said. "I'm so upset about this that I've just written a letter to the presidents of the universities and colleges in Ontario advising them of the fact sheet that we issued in 2005 advising them of my repeated attempts to set the record straight."
She said it's not easy for a university to decide to disclose such information to a parent, but the law does allow you to do it.
Kajouji's family and friends undertook a massive search effort after her disappearance.
Police investigated the incident, but always maintained there was no reason to suspect foul play. A preliminary autopsy on the body also showed no signs of foul play.
The family later learned that their daughter had been taking medication for depression and had talked to a friend online about suicide.
