Last week, I planned to blog about how pleasantly surprised I was that Formula One champion Michael Schumacher’s medical records had not been leaked in the six months following his tragic accident. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t blog about it, as Associated Press is reporting that his medical files have been stolen and are up for sale. (Update: The Telegraph reports that the files been offered for around €50,000 (£40,000) and contained details of surgical procedures.)
SPEED reports the following statement was issued by Schumacher’s German spokesperson, Sabine Kehm:
“For several days stolen documents and data are being offered for sale. The offeror (sic) claims them to be the medical file of Michael Schumacher.
“We cannot judge if these documents are authentic. However, the documents are clearly stolen. The theft has been reported. The authorities are involved.
“We expressly advise that both the purchase and the publication of such documents and data is forbidden. The contents of any medical files are totally private and confidential and must not made available to the public.
“We will therefore, in every single case, press for criminal charges and damages against any publication of the content or reference to the medical file.
“We trust for your understanding.”
Schumacher, who won seven world championships in Formula One – more than any other F1 driver ever – had retired in 2012. In December, while skiing with his teenage son, he had an accident that resulted in a serious head injury. Neurosurgeons operated on his brain to relieve pressure from bleeding in the brain caused by the accident.
Since December, Schumacher’s family and management team have zealously protected his privacy and attempted to control what was was released about his medical and cognitive status. Last week they issued a statement saying that he was out of his long drug-induced coma and had been transferred from the Grenoble hospital to a rehabilitation facility. They did not release any statement about his cognitive status or provide any details of his physical status.
If the records are released – and if they are accurate – I expect, based on my past work with head-injured patients in a rehabilitation setting – that they’ll paint a pretty grim picture. And while I understand the family’s desire to protect his privacy and stature, maybe it’s time for the family and management team to show the same respect for Michael’s fans that they’ve shown him – by being upfront about how bad it is, or isn’t.
All that said, whoever stole his records violated any number of laws or ethics codes and needs to be identified and held accountable.
If the files are released to a paper here, I expect they will be published. While Schumi’s management team can sue the publication, I doubt they’ll get anywhere under our laws if the paper didn’t encourage or facilitate the theft of the records. If it’s a European publication, that’s a whole other ball of wax.