Kristof Van Quathem and Giulia Romana Mele of Covington and Burling write:
On May 19, 2021, the Italian Supervisory Authority (“Garante”) fined a physician €5,000 for publishing a patient’s medical records without obtaining that patient’s specific consent to do so. As background, the physician downloaded medical records about a patient she treated at a local hospital from the hospital’s online archive system, including images taken during surgery. The physician used these records for a presentation at a medical conference, and also included them as documentation supporting a scientific research paper she submitted for a competition hosted by a surgeons’ association. The physician’s paper was ultimately selected as the winner of that competition, resulting in the publication of her work on the association’s website.
Read more on InsidePrivacy.