MRI Scan Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Secret Indigenous Study Performed on Unsuspecting Patients

A class action lawsuit Canada has been launched alleging a secret Indigenous study, subjecting participants to unwanted MRI scans. The class action lawsuit claims that Mi’kmaq people were purposely selected to receive MRI scans to covertly use their personal medical data.

The plaintiff Andrea Paul is a Mi’kmaq Chief of the Pictou Landing First Nation and she is leading the MRI scan class action lawsuit against the physicians and hospitals where she was subjected to be a participant in an Indigenous study she did not consent to. The MRI scan class action lawsuit is seeking damages for negligence, unlawful imprisonment, and invasion of privacy.

The Secret Indigenous Study

In March 2017, Chief Andrea went to Halifax’s Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre to receive diagnostic imaging, specifically magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), for a medical study by the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM).

Chief Andrea was allegedly left in the MRI chamber after the scans were finished and she claims she was kept in there for more scans on her body. The additional scans are alleged to be part of a secret study conducted by the defendants. The reported secret study was researching the “elastography of the liver” in Indigenous people.  

Chief Andrea claims she was not aware of the Indigenous study, nor did she consent to it. She says she felt claustrophobic and disturbed by the MRI chamber, loud sounds, and uncomfortable circumstances of the testing. The MRI scans also allegedly exposed sensitive medical data about Chief Andrea’s body without her consent. She and her lawyers believe she was selected because she is Mi’kmaq. 

The secret indigenous study class action lawsuit claims that the MRI scans for the CAHHM study were sent as usual, but the secret scans for the Indigenous study were kept by the defendants.

Unethically Unaware

Chief Andrea was not aware of the secret Indigenous study until June 21, 2018. The MRI Scan class action lawsuit claims that by this time the physicians had already shown the MRI results to a radiologist conference in Halifax. It is alleged that the defendants also included Chief Andrea’s results in a research paper named “MRI Findings of Liver Disease in an Atlantic Canada First Nations Population.”

On July 16, 2018, Chief Andrea went to a meeting with the accused physicians and learned about the full extent of the secret Indigenous study. It is alleged that it was denied that any of her MRI results were shared, but then the defendants reportedly admitted to Chief Andrea the study was shared at the conference. 

Chief Andrea was upset after learning that she was an unknowing participant of the secret Indigenous study and that her personal medical information was taken from her without her consent. According to the MRI Scan class action lawsuit, she felt violated, betrayed, and embarrassed by the activity of the secret Indigenous study.

A History of Indigenous Cruelty

There has been a history of cruelty to Indigenous people in Canada and they have been subjected to medical experiments. According to the MRI scan class action lawsuit, some of the Indigenous studies have included starvation studies using children. There are now ethical research standards enforced to establish consent for Indigenous participants, but Chief Andrea alleges she did not receive this respect. She claims she felt exposed and discriminated against because she is Mi’kmaq. According to the MRI scan class action lawsuit Canada, she struggled with a loss of self-esteem over the secret Indigenous study. 

The participating Class Members have also suffered similarly to Chief Andrea. She was not the only person who was an unwilling subject of the secret Indigenous study after participating in the CAHHM study. The MRI scan class action lawsuit states that another 60 people from the Pictou Landing First Nation were unknowingly a part of the secret Indigenous study, and they were allegedly chosen due to their race.

Class Action Lawsuit Damages 

Chief Andrea has initiated this MRI scan class action lawsuit on her behalf and the behalf of people who were unknowing participants of the secret Indigenous study. Anyone who was subjected to MRI scans without consent in 2017 or 2018 and suffered mental distress is recognized as a potential Class Member.

The secret Indigenous study class action lawsuit is seeking damages due to the Class Members invasion of privacy, unlawful imprisonment for being held in the MRI chamber for extra unwanted scans, assault and battery for the unlawful MRI procedures done on them, negligence, and breaches of duties. 

The Class Members are seeking damages for breaches by the defendants that caused them mental suffering, anguish, paranoia, trust issues, and more.

The damages sought in the MRI scan class action lawsuit are special, aggravated, and punitive damages that the court will deem sufficient. 

What do you think about the secret Indigenous study class action lawsuit? How would you feel if someone did extra testing on you for an undisclosed study without your consent? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Chief Andrea and potential Class Members are represented by Brian J. Hebert of McKiggan Hebert Law Firm. 

The MRI Scan Class Action Lawsuit is Andrea Paul v. Robert Miller, et al., Case No. 498480, in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Canada.

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