Approximately 122 patients' privacy was breached after a Canadian physician included their "tuberculosis-related health information" in an email sent to researchers, according to CBC News.
The unnamed physician included the information as part of a grant application for a national research project. The physician held roles at Eastern Health and was on faculty at Memorial University. Both institutions are in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Eastern Health said it started notifying all affected patients Jan. 30. The email has been deleted.
"While we are confident that the information has not been misused, I apologize to all of the patients whose privacy was breached through this incident," said Eastern Health President and CEO David Diamond. "As an organization, we take our responsibility as a custodian of personal health information very seriously and it is a priority to make sure employees and physicians are aware of their obligation for protecting personal health information."