EDPS decision on the right of access to and rectification of medical file

On 14 November 2007, an employee of the European Parliament submitted a complaint to the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) claiming that she was denied to exercise her right of access and rectification to her medical file by the Sick Leave Management Unit of the Parliament.

In his legal analysis, the EDPS gave inter alia a non-restrictive interpretation of Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No. 45/2001 (right of access) and held that the complainant did not only have the right of access to her medical file but also the right to obtain a copy or photocopy without any limitation in terms of copies of her own medical data. With regard to the right of rectification of her data, the EDPS stressed that although it is impossible to rectify medical appreciations, the complainant should have the right to keep her medical file up to date by adding other medical opinions. As to the complainant's request to transfer her medical file to the doctor appointed by her, the EDPS considered that the necessity of such transfer was demonstrated by her explicit consent, which also proved that it could not have prejudiced the data subject's legitimate interests.

The EDPS concluded that the Parliament:

• had not respected the 3 month deadline foreseen in Article 13 of the Regulation according to which the complainant should have been granted access to her medical file;
• had refused to allow the complainant to make photocopies of her medical file without a legal basis contrary to Article 13;
• had not granted the complainant the right to rectify her data so that all data in her medical file are complete and kept up to date, in violation of Articles 14 and 4(d); and
• had refused to transfer the complainant's complete medical file to the doctor appointed by her in infringement of Article 8 (transfer of data).

In the light of the above, the EDPS urged the Parliament to ensure that the complainant's rights are fully respected. The EDPS decision on this complaint was of a particular interest for the Parliament's trade union SFIE which sent an e-mail to the staff of the European Parliament citing the EDPS recommendations.

For more, go to http://www.edps.europa.eu/