Buckingham Law has launched a class-action lawsuit against Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services and NL Fertility Services for a privacy breach one month ago.

The breach in question happened on July 4. The clinic sent an email to people who had availed of a provincial subsidy to travel out of province for fertility services.

Those on the email were not blind copied, meaning the names of everyone on the list were visible. In total, 116 patients were affected.

Buckingham says those involved in the breach have called it “devastating and a violation.”

He explains that while some patients were quite open about what they were going through, many were dealing with their fertility journey in a very private and confidential manner.

He says the situation has placed additional strain on patients already going through a stressful time. He says people have cancelled some of their treatments while others have put their fertility journey on hold because of it.

Buckingham expects the class action to be filed in the next two weeks. They have set up a web page for people to sign up..