On July 11, 2023, the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania data protection authority (LfDI Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) announced draft amendments to the State Hospitals Act (LKHG) to facilitate easier access to health data for the purposes of medical research. The LfDI Mecklenburg-Vorpommern stated that the draft amendments to the LKGH would allow patient health data to be used securely for medical research without compromising data privacy. 

Will patients be required to give consent to the use of their data? 

The LfDI Mecklenburg-Vorpommern stated that under the draft amendments, patients would not be required to give their consent before their health data can be used for research. However, the LfDI Mecklenburg-Vorpommern confirmed that patients would have the right to object to the use of their health data for research at any time and without any preconditions. 

How will patient data be used? 

The LfDI Mecklenburg-Vorpommern clarified that patient data would only be used pseudonymously and only for research purposes. According to the LfDI Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the draft amendments would prohibit the sale of patient data to third parties as well as forbid the use of patient data for commercial purposes. 

According to the LfDI Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the draft amendments will be submitted to the state cabinet before being sent to the state parliament for approval. 

You can read the press release, only available in German, here.