First, the department takes very seriously its obligation to deal in a responsible manner with the documents and records of those we serve. We do follow Library and Archives Canada guidelines and legislation in the management of those records. In particular, in the cases I think you're referring to, these files were patient files from hospitals that the department transferred to the provinces between 1954 and 1995. The information in question dealt with patients who had either passed away or were discharged from the hospital.
Where the department does use military medical records for processing applications for benefits, these records are preserved by and are accessible from Library and Archives Canada.