Negligence and laziness are not uniquely American phenomena. In this case, the researcher was violating policy, with all-too-predictable results:
A hard drive containing the medical records of 781 cancer patients has been stolen from a researcher at Amsterdam’s Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital. The drive, which was not secured with a password, was taken from the boot of a hospital worker’s car in December.
So the researcher didn’t even bother to password protect the device, and then left it in an unattended vehicle? Discontinuing the relationship with said researcher is not enough. There should be some naming and shaming for this type of thing.
The drive contains information about patients who are or were taking part in academic research and lists their names, dates of birth, the types of tumors they have and details of any experimental treatment they are undergoing. Of patients, 199 are still alive, and have all been informed about the theft.
Read more on DutchNews.nl.