The President of the Supreme Medical Council, Łukasz Jankowski, turned to the Prosecutor’s Office, the Office for the Protection of Personal Data, the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Patients’ Rights regarding the entry of the former head of the Ministry of Health, Adam Niedzielski, about a Poznań doctor and the prescription he issued to himself.
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The information published by the Supreme Medical Chamber stated that President Jankowski’s speech related to the minister’s violation of personal data provisions by sharing sensitive data about the doctor and the prescription he provided on social media.
In a notification to the public prosecutor’s office about the possibility of a crime, the chairman of the NRL ruled, among other things, that the Minister of Health, at the same time, had unlawfully disclosed and used information he had learned through his position. He exceeded his powers as a public official and acted to the detriment of both private and public interests.
The doctor has suffered significant harm due to the unlawful actions of the Minister of Health, reflecting a broad breach of his personal rights and rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and EU standards. In the public interest, citizens’ trust in the state institution, the Ministry of Health, was harmed in particular. Consequently, the actions of Adam Niedzielski meet the definition of a prohibited act and represent an irreversible violation of the principles of a democratic rule of law and of relevant legal norms
– assessed the chairman of the NRL.
Broken trust
In addition, in the view of the chairman of the NRL, as Minister of Health he has completely damaged the trust that data on citizens’ health can be used by a politician in ways that contradict the core idea of health protection, which presumes broad confidentiality of health information.
In the notification to the UODO, the chairman of the NRL pointed out that the former health minister’s August 4 submission used the plural “We checked.”
Not only the former Minister of Health took note of the doctor’s health data; it is likely that more people who worked with the Minister had access to these data before they were published
– assessed.
The President of the NRL also requested that the Ombudsman for Patients’ Rights initiate an explanatory procedure. According to the Polish Chamber of Physicians, the Minister of Health’s actions, which publish information in the public space about a doctor’s prescriptions, violate patient rights, especially the right to patient confidentiality and the protection of medical records.
By publishing details about the medicines the doctor prescribed for himself, the Minister of Health enabled the widespread dissemination of this information through the media and made it accessible to every citizen. It should be emphasized that drugs prescribed by a doctor touch on highly personal health information.
said the chairman of the NRL.
Submitted communications
The documents, as reported by NIL, have also been sent to the Human Rights Commissioner, requesting appropriate action to protect the doctor’s rights in this case.
On Friday, former Health Minister Adam Niedzielski posted two messages on X referring to material aired on Fakty TVN the day before.
Lies Facts TVN. In yesterday’s issue we heard that patients after orthopedic operations in Poznań did not receive prescriptions for painkillers for the past two days. We checked in Poznań. And what happened? Patients received prescriptions for the indicated drugs after orthopedic operations!
– wrote the former minister in the first message.
Doctor Piotr Pisula, from the City Hospital in Poznań, yesterday on Fakty TVN stated that no patient could write such a prescription. We checked. Yesterday, the doctor wrote himself a prescription for a drug from the psychotropic and painkiller group. Those are the FACTS. What next
– added Niedzielski in the second post.
In a statement published on Saturday, the head of the Ministry of Health later announced that the publication of information about a doctor at a municipal hospital in Poznań writing a prescription was meant, on one hand, to damage the good name of the Ministry of Health, but above all to defend the interests of the patient.
The purpose of spreading information about a doctor writing a prescription was to unlawfully disclose inaccurate data that would make it seem impossible to obtain medicines from the psychopharmaceutical and analgesic groups, counteracting false impressions. This information from a national TVN channel caused patients to fear they would not receive the prescriptions they were entitled to.
– wrote the former minister.
Statement by former minister
He stressed that a firm response was required to dispel the patients’ uncertainty seeded by the doctor’s statements. The minister noted that no one had access to the data stored in the account of the designated doctor and no one interfered with that account. Thus, there was no violation of any regulations.
– added the former head of the Ministry of Health.
He also recalled that under the Healthcare Information System Act the Minister of Health has the right to access information about a pro-authorization prescription issued by a specific person. This access is not through an individual doctor or patient account.
– Niedzielski noted.
Finally, he emphasized that his response was solely a reaction to the untruths published by the doctor.
– the former health minister said.
Doctor Piotr Pisula, whose data the minister published on social media, announced on X that he had filed a court summons against Adam Niedzielski. Pisula demands the removal of consequences of violations of personal rights. He also calls for an apology from the head of the Ministry of Health and a donation of 100,000 PLN to the Palium Hospice in Poznań.
PAP/ed
Source: wPolityce