I recently mentioned a lawsuit against a doctor by a former drug addiction patient who alleges the doctor violated confidentiality by basing the main character in his book on details she had shared with him in her treatment. This morning, I came across a patient confidentiality case in Finland, and was interested to read how they handle some things there.
A book and feature film on the life of a former patient at the Kellokoski Mental Hospital have been found to contain information that violates doctor-patient confidentiality.
Mediuutiset, a professional journal of medical news, reports that the State Administrative Authority of Southern Finland has reprimanded Ilkka Taipale, the former head physician of Kellokoski Hospital, as well as former psychiatric nurse Ilkka Raitasuo, for unlawfully giving outsiders access to the records of Anna Svedholm (1896-1988), a deceased patient.
Raitasuo, one of the authors of the book 2010 Kellokosken Prinsessa (“Kellokoski Princess”), has said previously that Svedholm had given him permission to use her personal information in the work.
However, the authorities found that as a patient, she was not competent to consent to allowing her personal information to be used.
Under the law, patient documents must be kept confidential for 50 years after the patient’s death. Not even close relatives are allowed to give out such confidential information.
Read more on Helsingin Sanomat. I wonder what they’d do there with the case here – although as far as I know now, that case is not before a professional board and is a civil suit.
It’a also interesting that Finland has a 50-year rule on deceased patients’ information. When the new rule is released here, will it also contain a 50-year provision, and if so, will there be any exceptions?