Are the politicians selling/trading/bartering (it’s all the same thing) us? Are we a product, a commodity, to be sold?
In B.C. researchers (whoever they are because we’re not told), claim that privacy laws make it difficult to access patient information. “Instead of asking why should we open things up, what we really want to ask is, why shouldn’t we?” observed Margaret MacDiarmid, Minister of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government (1). You’ll find this statement particularly interesting when you read future post “Our Information Is Not Protected” (the privacy/firing scandal).
Point 1 – That should be the purpose of privacy laws, to make our information difficult to access.
Point 2 – Evidence proves that our information is, in fact, not protected (2). Apparently the problem, for researchers, is that the information is not linked so they have to go to different databases. And they want to track us. All without OUR explicit consent and knowledge.
Richard Rosenberg, professor emeritus in computer science at the University of B.C. and a spokesman for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said patients should have the right to determine whether their medical records can be used for research. “The argument shouldn’t be that because we’re doing good work, we should have access to whatever we want.” (1)
Point 3 – Are they all doing good work? We don’t know because we don’t know who THEY are or what THEY are doing. Many research/pharmaceutical/biotechnology firms, etc. have been charged for various crimes. (17, 18, 19, 23 – I could not find any Canadian charges against pharmaceuticals – interesting!!) And the government has been caught experimenting on Aboriginal children and adults (3, 4), and giving permission for experimentation on psychiatric patients and others (9, 10, 11, 12, 13). This information never comes to light until many years later, if at all, because the government hides the information. An article written by Les Perreaux and Sandra Rubin states:
“The courts may be the final barrier to protect Canadians from unfettered genetic experimentation as scientists abandon public interest research in favour of corporate funding and ambitious, cutting-edge science, lawyers heard yesterday”.
“The independent scientist who conducts research for the public good ‘barely exists any more,’ according to one leading expert on technology and public policy”. ‘They get up and talk as if they are neutral. But they almost always have some share in the company or some self-interested gain for their work,” said Philip Bereano, a professor from the University of Washington in Seattle. (5) Also, read future post “Follow the Money”.
Iceland and Newfoundland provide an example of how your information can be sold/traded/bartered. In Iceland, the most famous example, a single company, deCode Genetics landed a monopoly on the national genome after acquiring exclusive access to the national health data base. …The fundamentals of genetics are still being debated, questions such as whether companies should be allowed to patent human genes.
An article in the Financial Post states: “…which makes Newfoundland something of a motherlode to the drug development industry. Indeed, despite the fact that modern genetics is still in its infancy, the race to exploit Newfoundlanders’ genetic heritage has become so intense that some groups have been accused of “helicopter genetics” – basically, rushing in, grabbing a few blood samples, then jetting off to file the necessary patents. There is now a growing belief among political leaders of the province that Newfoundlanders should maintain control over their unique genome. But the politicians are faced with a tough dilemma: How do you build a wall without scaring off the wealthy customers? It is “becoming an increasingly treacherous debate about ethics and profit”. (6)
There is a story about Henrietta Lacks, a woman from Baltimore, who, 60 years ago had her cancer cells taken without consent (isn’t that called theft? And unethical?). Those cells (called HeLa) were used in the biotech industry and helped create medical treatments. “Neither she nor her family ever shared in the ‘untold riches’ but they recently gained ‘some control over scientists access to the cells’ DNA code.” “Since DNA is inherited, information from her DNA could be used to make predictions about the disease risk and other traits of her modern-day descendants.“ “The main issue was the privacy concern and what information in the future might be revealed,’ “David Lacks Jr. said in a news conference.” “In the past the Lacks family had been left in the dark about research stemming from HeLa cells.” (7)
So, is your DNA, and other body parts (fluids, etc.) and information, being sold/traded/bartered? Are the politicians encouraging companies to locate in BC in exchange for our personal information? Is the government and their lackeys (for example, the corporations that run the hospitals, the universities) outright selling it? When you donate blood, are they taking a sample and putting it in a DNA data bank for use by all of THEM. “The Province had commenced programs and financing to attract major drug companies to British Columbia,” the notice said. “Also, the Liberal Party was receiving significant contributions from these drug companies. And I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the politicians are lining their pockets in other ways by selling/trading/bartering us. (16)
And what about all the other increasing amounts of information that is being collected on us. The government calls it an “’e-government’ strategy – a comprehensive identity management system meant to facilitate online access to government services and the integration of databases that contain citizen’s personal information.” (20) ‘Crime and convenience are the ways these things are always sold’, Mr. Gogolek said. ‘They were using that with the fraud argument, but now it’s being portrayed as some kind of convenience card.’ (21) What you end up with is one card with ALL your personal information, accessible to almost anyone who has your card number. The government can’t/won’t protect it. If it is in a database it is accessible (ask anyone who works in information technology, ie computers). But now THEY don’t have to try to access different databases, it’s one stop shopping for all your information. A hacker just has to hack one database, a government employee just has to access one database. If the government says your information is protected, ask them to prove it because there is a load of evidence to show they DON’T protect our information (see my past/future posts, The Tyee, newspapers…) You might also want to read Orwell’s book called1984 (I’m sure it’s at the public libraries).
Do they even want it protected? If it is discovered that a company/individual has your personal information, the politicians can hide the fact that it has been sold/traded/bartered by saying that it has been stolen. After all, it isn’t as if we are dealing with honest, ethical, caring people.
When the LNG doesn’t provide the big tax flow the politicians promised, they have another source to generate income. (14) The government will cover up the loss of projected revenue by selling more of us (our information, our DNA, etc).
In fact, the government “was actively discussing selling patient health information to private companies”, around 2012. (8) But why else would they be collecting a treasure trove of information? (1) I have also been told that, although the BC Hospital Act prescribes keeping patient information for 10 years, there is a BC directive that all hospital records be kept indefinitely. (from email) Is this true? Well, unlike anywhere else, B.C. has digitalized records of every prescription filled by a pharmacist since 1995, all doctor billings, hospital admissions and treatments from the same period, and results of all blood tests done since 2002. (1) And some information has been kept since 1985 (see post “I’ve Returned).
This may also be a case where the government is already selling/trading/bartering us because “…policy trumped the law and government could do what it wants even if it breaches the law and legislation.” (22) And, “…it doesn’t matter what the legislation says, we have government policy; that it’s unfortunate that we don’t follow the law but that we plan on changing the legislation at some point so that we will, so it’s ok for now.” (22) (see future post “Our Information is Not Protected”).
The law that allows the medical business to steal from us is immoral and unethical. It is legalized theft but theft nonetheless when you take from people without their explicit consent, and in most cases, without their knowledge.
As Micheal Vonn, of the BCCLA (British Columbia Civil Liberties Association), says:
“It’s not a conspiracy, it’s a business plan!”.
- Plan to unlock B.C.’s trove of medical data raises privacy concerns. Rod Mickleburgh, 18 Apr 2012, The Globe and Mail
- Past posts such as Auditor General – PARIS report 5/24/2011, Privacy Breaches 6/6/2011 and future post “Our Information Is Not Protected”
- Aboriginal children used in medical tests, commissioner says, Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press, 31 Jul 2013, CBC News
- Hungry aboriginal people used in bureaucrats’ experiments, The Canadian Press, 16 Jul 2013, CBC News
- Courts protect public against scientific “elite’, 14 Aug 2001, National Post
- Newfoundland a motherlode for geneticists, 24 Jun 2000, Financial Post
- Family of Henrietta Lacks, Baltimore woman whose cells were taken without consent, wins recognition for immortal cells, 08 Aug 2013, Malcolm Ritter, Associated Press, National Post.
- At Time of Firings, Health Ministry Discussed Selling Patient Data, 20 Mar 2015, Andrew MacLeod, TheTyee.ca
- Mind-Control Part 1: Canadian and U.S. Survivors Seek Justice, Arlene Tyner, March-April 2000 issue (Vol. 7 No. 3), Probe
- The McGill mind behind ‘soft torture’, 23 Nov 2005, National Post
- CIA Activities in Canada (see the section on Project MKULTRA), Wikipedia
- MK-UlTRAViolence, 06 Sept 2012, The McGill Daily
- Donald Ewen Cameron, Wikipedia
- Premier’s LNG Dreams Given Reality Check By Japanese Expert, Geoff Dembicki, 30 Jun 2014, TheTyee.ca
- Health Worker fired to Protect Liberal Donors, Suit Alleges – Andrew MacLeod, 07 May 2013, TheTyee.ca
- List of the largest pharmaceutical settlements, wiki
- GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 billion healthcare fraud settlement, U.S. Says, Tiffany Hsu, 02 Jul 2012, Los Angeles Times
- Nuremberg Trials: Big Pharma’s Crimes Against Humanity, Gabriel Donohoe, 18 Oct 2008, Natural News
- Privacy groups demand halt to BC ID Card roll-out. 08 Feb 2013, BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA)
- Critics worry ID, Compass cards could be linked, Gordon Hoekstra, 2013/08/16, Vancouver Sun (a paper I do not buy)
- Emails Shed Light on Origins of Health Ministry Probe, Firings – Andrew MacLeod, 21 Oct 2014, TheTyee.ca
- Big Pharma behaving badly: A timeline of settlements, 05 Oct 2010, Fierce Pharma