A mother complained about disclosure of information about her daughter by a pharmacy which had dispensed some medication to the daughter.

The mother had disagreed with the dosage and altered the label. The daughter was an adult with an intellectual disability. She lived, at least part-time, in an IHC home. An IHC staff member noticed the alteration on the label and telephoned the pharmacy for the correct dosage. The pharmacy assumed that the caller was the daughter's caregiver because he appeared to have the medication in front of him and seemed to be responsible for administering it. The information was disclosed.

After investigation, I concluded that the pharmacy's action was not unreasonable.

Rule 11(1)(a)(ii) allows health agencies to disclose information if they believe, on reasonable grounds, that the disclosure is to the individual's representative, where the individual is unable to exercise his or her rights. I had to consider whether the pharmacy had reasonable grounds to believe that the IHC staff member was the daughter's representative.

'Representative' is defined in clause 3(1) of the Health Information Privacy Code 1994 to mean:

(a) where that individual is dead - that individual's personal representative;(b) where the individual is under the age of 16 years - that individual's parent or guardian;(c) where the individual, not being an individual referred to in paragraphs (a) or (b), is unable to give his or her consent or authority, or exercise his or her rights - a person appearing to be lawfully acting on the individual's behalf or in his or her interests;

Paragraph (c) was relevant in this case. In the circumstances, I considered it was reasonable for the pharmacy to believe that the IHC staff member was lawfully acting in the daughter's interests. Therefore, I accepted that rule 11(1)(a)(ii) applied to the disclosure.

I also considered that, even if the pharmacy had breached rule 11, it would not have caused an interference with the daughter's privacy because she did not appear to have suffered any adverse consequences as a result of the disclosure.

August 1999