{"id":454768,"date":"2026-02-05T04:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T04:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/454768\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T04:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T04:45:07","slug":"alberta-doctors-speak-out-against-move-to-broaden-parent-access-to-childrens-health-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/454768\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta doctors speak out against move to broaden parent access to children\u2019s health records"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alberta<\/a> doctors say the provincial government\u2019s decision to broaden parental and guardian access to their children\u2019s medical records could put youth at risk of harm and infringes on their privacy.<\/p>\n

Parents or guardians, as of Monday, can access the personal health information of their children until they are 18, including diagnostic imaging, dispensed prescriptions and appointments. Previously, the age limit was 12 unless extended in certain cases, for example if a child has severe intellectual disabilities.<\/p>\n

Under the new policy, a youth aged 16 and older can revoke parental access, but it will otherwise continue until the child becomes an adult. Parents can submit a online request for access through their provincial health account until their child is 16, after which the request must go through one of the youth\u2019s care providers.<\/p>\n

Sam Wong, president of the Alberta Medical Association\u2019s section of pediatrics, said many members are \u201cupset and angry\u201d about the government decision, saying it creates an unnecessary barrier between physicians and their patients.<\/p>\n

He said there were lengthy discussions between the government and physicians, who pushed back because of confidentiality concerns, but they were unsuccessful in changing the province\u2019s position. Dr. Wong said some doctors had to sign nondisclosure agreements, unable to speak about the change until it occurred this week.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Wong is concerned patients may not see a physician or divulge information that is essential for proper care if their parents have proxy access. And, if confidential information is divulged, the patient may refuse medications or investigations needed for their condition, such as birth control or a pregnancy test.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a lot of families, it doesn\u2019t really matter. They have nice, open relationships with their kids but, for some families and adolescents, it\u2019s going to cause problems,\u201d Dr. Wong said.<\/p>\n

He criticized the Alberta government for focusing on parental rights without recognizing \u201cadolescents as individuals with their own rights and confidentiality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United Conservative government, under Premier Danielle Smith, has made parental rights a major focus. Central to this crusade are the limits that Alberta has been placed on gender diverse youth, including restricting access to gender-affirming care and requiring parental consent for name and pronoun changes in schools.<\/p>\n

The changes to proxy access will better support parents and guardians, who play a key role in their children\u2019s health, Maddison McKee, press secretary to Primary and Preventative Health Services Minister Adriana LaGrange, said in a statement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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She noted that there is no universal approach to this issue in Canada and that the age at which youth can access their own records ranges from 12 to 16. Youth 14-plus in Alberta who already have their own health-care account are excluded from the policy change.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafeguards are in place that allow health-care providers to limit or remove parental access to a child\u2019s online health information where appropriate, including to minimize impacts on youth seeking sensitive or essential health services,\u201d said Ms. McKee.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtecting patient privacy and respecting the rights of mature minors are legislative requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mature minor doctrine allows children of any age to consent to treatment if a health-care provider deems they have the maturity and capacity to make such a decision.<\/p>\n

But Lorian Hardcastle, an assistant professor with the University of Calgary\u2019s faculty of law and Cumming School of Medicine, said the new policy does not align with existing practices for the treatment of minors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe misalignment is that the patient can get care without parental involvement but parents may still be able to access this information if providers don\u2019t take steps to ensure that doesn\u2019t happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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For Jake Donaldson, a Calgary-based physician who is part of a legal challenge against Alberta\u2019s law limited gender-affirming care, the new policy strikes at the foundation of care for younger people: confidentiality. He said the proxy changes will have wide-reaching impact on youth and adolescent health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen young people don\u2019t feel confident in their privacy, that their privacy will be respected, they will delay or avoid care altogether,\u201d Dr. Donaldson said, adding that will result in consequences such as the spread of sexually transmitted infections, teen pregnancies or prolonging abusive situations.<\/p>\n

Natalie Forbes, a community pediatrician in Calgary, has similar concerns.<\/p>\n

She explained doctors do what is called a \u201cconfidential history\u201d once kids turn about 12. This is where parents are asked to the leave the room so that a physician can discuss topics, such as substance use, safety at home and sexual history.<\/p>\n

None of the information is shared with parents unless there are safety concerns, said Dr. Forbes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot, in any good faith, provide that confidentiality anymore because we don\u2019t know what the parents can see,\u201d she said, adding that physicians generally want to work with families, but that there are some children who do not come from safe homes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alberta doctors say the provincial government\u2019s decision to broaden parental and guardian access to their children\u2019s medical records…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,84,392,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-454768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-health","32":"tag-healthcare","33":"tag-life-news","34":"tag-lifestyle","35":"tag-local-news","36":"tag-manitoba","37":"tag-national-news","38":"tag-new-brunswick","39":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","40":"tag-northwest-territories","41":"tag-nova-scotia","42":"tag-nunavut","43":"tag-ontario","44":"tag-pei","45":"tag-photos","46":"tag-political-news","47":"tag-political-opinion","48":"tag-politics","49":"tag-politics-news","50":"tag-quebec","51":"tag-sports-news","52":"tag-technology","53":"tag-travel","54":"tag-trudeau","55":"tag-us-news","56":"tag-world-news","57":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}