Private use of hospital MRIs broke law: report

Areport released by theB.C. government on Wednesday blames a communications breakdown for a breach of the law by two Vancouver hospitalsthat allowed patients to pay for MRI use during off hours.

The report says about 1,100 patients paid private brokers' fees to get access to the diagnostic equipment at St. Paul's and Mount St. Joseph's hospitals between 2002 and 2006.

The practice violates federal and provincial law, says the report, prepared for the deputy minister of health.

However, Health Minister George Abbott says there's no evidence it was deliberate.

"We don't believe that there was any malice or any attempt to mislead around that. But it does appear that there was a failure to communicate effectively exactly what the policy was andwhat it meant."

Abbott says Providence Health Care, which administers the hospitals, will have to refund about half a million dollars in fees.

The medical broker involved had argued there is no reason for the publicly funded machines to go unused when patients need them.