Doctors from major university hospitals who leaked patients' personal information to pharmaceutical companies were sent to the prosecution.
The National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency announced on the 22nd that it had sent 27 officials, including specialists from 17 large general hospitals, and 23 people, including a salesperson at JW Pharmaceutical, to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act.
Hospital officials were found to have leaked about 326,000 prescription records of more than 200,000 patients who were prescribed drugs sold by pharmaceutical companies at the request of salespeople who are close.
The hospitals where the information was leaked include Sinchon Severance Hospital, the Catholic Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, and Korea University Hospital.
In the leaked prescription data, the patient's name, date of birth, age, as well as the name of the disease, prescribed medication, method of administration, department and attending physician were recorded in detail.
It has been found that some hospital records contain sensitive information such as serious illness or admission to a psychiatric hospital.
The police explained that they are establishing a complementary system for each hospital by notifying the standard of personal information protection measures to the general hospital where patient information has been leaked, and that victims of information leakage will be notified in writing, etc. through the hospital.
Victims may file a claim for damages or a group action against a hospital, etc. through the Personal Information Dispute Committee or the court in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act.
(Photo = provided by Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)