28
december
2008
Doctors fight plans to hand medical records to researchers and private companies
The British Medical Association has attacked plans which could give researchers and private companies access to NHS medical records without patients' consent.
The association said the Government was "dancing with the devil" with its proposals to give researchers, which could include commercial organisations, access to a giant computer database of patient records.
The Government's own health information watchdog has also written to ministers to express his concern about the plans, which could see patients' names and addresses handed over.
Medical researchers claim being given access to the new database would make it easier to carry out studies.
But the proposals have horrified privacy campaigners, who say it could be used to "hoover up" personal data which could become a gold mine not just for researchers, but for pharmaceutical companies and firms which sell health products.
Â
