INDUSTRIES, HEALTHCARE | The ECJ on patients’ right of access

Newsletter n. 90 – November 2023

INDUSTRIES

HEALTHCARE

The ECJ on patients’ right of access

On 26 October 2023, the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its judgment in Case C-307/22, holding that a patient has the right to obtain a first copy of his/her medical records, with no need to give reasons for his/her request, without, in principle, incurring any costs. Indeed, even with a view to protecting the economic interests of the persons providing treatments, the data controller may only charge a fee if the patient has already received a first copy of his/her personal data free of charge and subsequently requests a copy of that data again. In addition, the ECJ clarified that the patient has the right to obtain a full copy of the documents included in his/her medical records, where this is essential in order to understand the personal data which those documents contain.