Rt 2011 s 1433
Country: NorwayYear: 2011
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: Employment and Social Welfare Department v A ( Case No. HR-2011-2072-A)
Health Topics: Health information, Medical malpractice
Human Rights: Right to privacy
A doctor was ordered to disclose the medical records of 12 patients, including the plaintiff. The doctor appealed the order to the Labor and Welfare Agency, which rejected the appeal. The plaintiff appealed the same order, but was also rejected since the order was not an “individual decision” making the plaintiff deemed to not be …Read more
Sorrell v. IMS Health
Country: United StatesYear: 2011
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 131 S.Ct. 2653 (2011)
Health Topics: Health information, Medicines
Human Rights: Freedom of expression, Right of access to information, Right to privacy
Pharmacies, “as a matter of business routine and federal law, receive prescriber-identifying information when processing prescriptions.” This “[k]nowledge of a physician’s prescription practices—called prescriber-identifying information,’” enables marketers representing pharmaceutical drug manufacturers (Detailers) to better “ascertain which doctors are likely to be interested in a particular drug and how best to present a particular sales message.” …Read more
Abortion Supervisory Committee v. Right to Life New Zealand Inc.
Country: New ZealandYear: 2010
Court: Court of Appeal
Citation: [2011] NZCA 246
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health information, Health systems and financing, Hospitals, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Right to life, Right to privacy
This case is an appeal from the High Court. An appeal from this case was dismissed by the Supreme Court in [2012] NZSC 68. A cross-appeal was filed by the respondent, the Right to Life New Zealand Inc (RTL), which asserted the lower court erred by finding the unborn child had no right to life and …Read more
Xákmok Kásek Indigenous Community v. Paraguay
Country: ParaguayYear: 2010
Court: Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Citation: Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No. 214 (Aug. 24, 2010).
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Diet and nutrition, Health care and health services, Health information, Health systems and financing, Infectious diseases, Medicines, Poverty, Sexual and reproductive health, Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to life, Right to property
Indigenous community Xákmok Kásek brought an action against the government of Paraguay before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for failure to meet its international responsibility of timely granting the community members’ request in 1990 for a guarantee of their right to their ancestral lands. Because the government had failed to process their request, the …Read more
Case 289793
Country: FranceYear: 2009
Court: Conseil d’Etat (Council of State)
Citation: C.E., No. 289793, 10 April 2009
Health Topics: Health information, Mental health
Human Rights: Right of access to information
Mr A suffered from psychiatric illness and was hospitalised against his will under a guardianship order in 1990 and 1996. His case was later transferred to a doctor chosen by him – Dr B, and all medical records were sent on to Dr B. Mr A later sought to obtain a copy of the entirety …Read more
Frankowicz v. Poland
Country: PolandYear: 2009
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 53025/99
Health Topics: Health information
Human Rights: Freedom of expression, Right to due process/fair trial
Frankowicz worked as a gynecologist preparing medical reports at clients’ request. He wrote a report on the long-term treatment of one of his patients in which it was noted that the client was suffering from chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Furthermore, Frankowicz wrote that the client’s previous doctor “had failed to take the actions [necessary] for …Read more
K.H. and Others v. Slovakia
Country: SlovakiaYear: 2009
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 32881/04, 49 Eur. Ct. H.R. 34 (2009).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health information, Health systems and financing, Hospitals, Informed consent, Medical malpractice, Poverty, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Right of access to information, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to family life
The eight applicants were women of Roma ethnicity, who suspected that they had been sterilized during caesarian section deliveries at two different hospitals. The applicants obtained legal representation, who attempted to examine and obtain copies of their medical records. These requests were denied by the hospitals. The applicants then brought actions against the hospitals in …Read more
Te Koeti v. Otago District Health Board
Country: New ZealandYear: 2009
Court: Human Rights Review Tribunal
Citation: [2009] NZHRRT 24
Health Topics: Health information, Hospitals, Mental health, Violence
Human Rights: Right of access to information
. (The tribunal noted that the request should have been made under the Health Information Privacy Code 1994, but accepted that this was immaterial for the purposes of the case.) TK made it clear that he specifically wanted all the names of the nurses who had attended him. Although accepting that these names were part …Read more
I v. Finland
Country: FinlandYear: 2008
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 20511/03
Health Topics: Health information
Human Rights: Right to privacy
The applicant was a nurse from 1989 to 1994 at the same public hospital where she sought treatment after being diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1987. All hospital staff had access to the patient register, which contained information on patients’ diagnoses. In 1992, the applicant became suspicious that her colleagues became aware of her diagnosis through …Read more
Mechenkov v. Russia
Country: RussiaYear: 2008
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 35421/05, Eur. Ct. H.R. 122 (2008).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health information, Infectious diseases, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
Applicant, a Russian national serving a prison sentence and suffering from tuberculosis and chronic hepatitis C, alleged the state violated his Article 3 rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because he was denied the necessary medical treatment. He also alleged that he was held with inmates suffering from active tuberculosis and hepatitis …Read more