Imagine finding out your blood test results are in the hands of workers at the New Providence Landfill -- or anyone just going through the trash -- because somebody just threw them out.
We were absolutely stunned to see test results from the Hematology Department of Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) with patients' names, supposedly retrieved from among the biohazardous waste Renew Bahamas CEO Michael Cox said was sent to the landfill.
Of course, it would be irresponsible of us to call the names of patients or reveal any results, but it is completely unacceptable that patient information was in the trash.
People who visit medical facilities have a legitimate expectation that their medical records and test results will be handled with the highest degree of confidentiality.
As we viewed those documents to satisfy ourselves that they, in fact, were sent to the landfill, we could not help but wonder what those patients would think if they knew where their information had ended up.
We have seen these results, and photos of the documents being pulled from red bags, which Cox said contained biohazardous waste -- waste that contains infectious materials or substances like blood.
Such waste is supposed to be incinerated before it is sent to the landfill. In several instances it was not. And that is a very serious matter.
It could have tremendous implications for public health.
Cox said he is also concerned when Renew employees have had to deal with the dangerous and improperly handled waste.
PMH has offered to pay Renew Bahamas for dealing with the risky disposal of the waste, which included used needles. Again, this type of waste is not supposed to be sent to the landfill without being incinerated.
Two weeks after our original story, PMH said it has not confirmed that the waste originated from its hospital.
Renew is seeking payment of $39,232 from PMH for having to deal with the waste. PMH has agreed to pay a portion of that.
But Herbert Brown, managing director of the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA), told National Review PMH has not confirmed whether any or all of the shipments originated from the hospital.
"From what I have been told, an incident that may have happened in November of 2015, we are looking at that particular incident. And that particular incident may have -- and I am not yet definitively sure on this particular point -- but that may be something we may have contributed to," said Brown, referring to the biohazardous shipment.
"The extent of it, I am not sure yet."
He said no payment has been made to Renew, but acknowledged that PMH has offered a payment.
"If you look at what he (Cox) was proposing as a cost for what had occurred in 2015, you would see that it was significantly more than what we had even offered, if you look at what the bill was," Brown said.
"And so, the point here is, that we were not satisfied based on the amount of waste that he showed us that, that could have been all from the Princess Margaret Hospital based on what we know would have transpired, the number of bags."
While Brown acknowledged a payment was offered, he refused to acknowledge that PMH is responsible for any of the waste.
But he said based on information provided, "We are not 100 percent sure that we may not be responsible".
Pressed on why PMH has offered to make a settlement if it had not confirmed it is responsible for the biohazardous waste being sent to the landfill, Brown said, "Based on the information that has been provided, there is a possibility that Princess Margaret Hospital could have, because the bags that he (Cox) showed for the November incident seemed to have been bags that the Princess Margaret Hospital could have been using and it was on a day when Princess Margaret Hospital waste would have been deposited."
Medical facilities place biohazardous waste in red bags, then place them in red bins.
In the case of PMH, its waste is collected by Bahamas Waste Limited and Impac Waste Disposal Ltd.
Using a process called autoclave, Bahamas Waste breaks down the biohazardous material. The material is then transported to the landfill.
At least that is the way it is supposed to happen.
We have seen photos of at least one shipment where biohazardous waste was placed in red bags, and then black bags, then sent to the landfill.
Cox found that alarming.

Results
As if the shipments of biohazardous waste were not bad enough, the disposal of people's blood test results is also an issue.
How could this happen?
It was just one of the questions we asked Brown as we continued our probe into biohazardous waste making it onto the landfill.
Brown said he has not seen those documents.
"What I've been made to understand is that there are some documents with Princess Margaret Hospital labeled on them," he said.
We informed him that patients' names are also on the documents with test results.
Brown said that does not necessarily mean those are medical records.
Whatever PHA or PMH officials wish to call the documents, it is indeed worrying that such information is being dumped without first being destroyed.
We asked him whether he is concerned that people's test results from PMH have made it to the landfill.
While stressing again that he has not seen any such thing, Brown said, "If you are saying to me medical records would have been contained in what you saw then clearly that is unacceptable, no question about it. There are no ifs, ands and buts about that.
"If medical records were contained in the garbage, that should not have been ... But I can't say whether this was medical records that should have been placed on a patient's file. I don't know ..."
PMH staff rosters were also disposed of in one of the shipments, suggesting that the shipment indeed originated from the hospital.
Cox said back in November, PMH representatives visited the site after a shipment of biohazardous waste was sent there.
In addition to determining that the waste originated from PMH, the officials also acknowledged that the records were from PMH, Cox said.
Officials at the landfill are still trying to find out how patient information could be discarded in the manner it has been.
They even wonder whether it could be that someone has gone through files in search of patients' results and then discarded those results irresponsibly.
"What I don't know is whether someone is doing it deliberately because they're looking for something," Cox said.
"Someone mentioned to me that somebody might be looking for some evidence that someone has got AIDS and they can use it for blackmail, because one of the things that we can't understand is why would they do it."
Brown insisted that the hospital will tighten its protocols, but he said the issue is broader.
"I see this as not just an investigation into one or two instances, but I think as a country we would probably want to seize this opportunity to carry out a comprehensive review of biohazardous waste disposal, and so at the end of the day, we are able to be satisfied that best standards are being used, not just at the Princess Margaret Hospital, but as a country, because there is more than just the Princess Margaret Hospital as a facility," he said.

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